Run
by ElleEm89
Summary: Steve, Danny, and Chin race to China to rescue Kono, Adam, and Doris, but things don't go according to plan. Sometimes, when things get tough, it's not an option to fight. You've sometimes just got to run.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! I haven't read any spoilers for the show for season four, so if this is totally off from what happens, I have no idea. **

**This story is quite long, so I hope you're ready for some serious reading! It's all finished, so I should be able to update every day or two.**

**This is mostly about Steve and Kono, but is just them being friends, nothing more.**

**There is one section in particular about halfway through that gets really violent. I did that to make it realistic and to band the characters together. But I wanted to warn you if it's hard to read about that sort of thing.**

**Lastly, thank you so very much for reading this. I hope you like it. Reviews make me happier than just about anything, so please tell me what you think. I'm about to get very busy with school so I may not be able to respond back, but I want you all to know how much I appreciate them.**

**Enjoy the story!**

**-H50-H50-H50-**

He could practically feel the urgency of the situation running through him in his veins. Yet this had all been incredibly easy. Nothing was happening, and that was exactly why Steve was so suspicious. He and Kono walked quickly yet silently through the hotel room and to the door, holding hands tightly, because he was not going to let her disappear again, and because she was determined to get home. If they could only get to the others, then they could all leave. But what had happened to the people they were so sure would attack at any moment?

And then it happened. Steve had been a Navy Seal and a cop for too long to ignore the feeling that suddenly struck, the feeling that told him something was terribly wrong. He stopped just before the door and held up a hand to Kono.

She looked at him with tired yet wide-set eyes that had undergone far too much stress in too little an amount of time, questioning his hesitation. He listened for another second, then quickly backed away from the door, pulling her with him. It would not be as simple as walking out.

**ONE HOUR EARLIER**

Chin reflected silently on the car ride to the hotel about all that had happened in the last twenty four hours. The first was that they had uncovered a major Yakuza plan (thanks to Steve holding their only lead's head out of the open door of the car, six inches from the road, while Danny drove like it was on fire). The man had confessed in no time at all about how they had learned where Adam, and by extension Kono and Doris, were staying in Shanghai. They had a plan to go there almost immediately and take out Adam out of loyalty to Michael, and Kono out of loyalty to the entire business itself.

Chin thought Steve was going to kill the man. He had hardly ever seen him so angry before in his life. Danny had intervened when it became painfully clear that the man had no more information for them. They had immediately made plans to fly to Shanghai with necessary supplies, not even the governor knowing of their plans, because they could not risk a leak for anything.

Two hours later they were in the air. Even on the jet it took nine hours to reach Shanghai, a miserable trip filled with unanswered questions and increasingly horrifying what ifs. They landed on a small airstrip located just outside the city and rented an SUV with enough space for the three of them, and hopefully, after all this was done, three more.

The drive into the city had taken one hour. It had now been fifteen hours since they had come across their lead and realized who they had found. His accomplices would no doubt know he was missing and suspect that their plan was known. But Chin tried not to think about that. It was like seeing his cousin disappearing right before his eyes, and he didn't think he could take that.

Once inside the city they parked half a block from the hotel. As Kono, Adam, and Doris had no cell phones and had given them no way to contact them, Steve called the front desk of the hotel and asked to speak to Anne Matthews. Anne was his mother's middle name, Matthews her maiden name. He was told that there was no one staying in the hotel under that name. What about Grace Mitchell? He asked it in desperation, a name that Kono had given not six weeks ago during an undercover assignment. The clerk said yes, there was a woman staying there who was registered under that name. Chin's relief at finding her after traveling so far and going through so much could almost be felt in the car. I'd like to talk to her, said Steve. Connecting, he said a few seconds later.

"Hello?"

"Mom! Mom, listen, you and Kono and Adam, you've got to get out of there now. The Yakuza are on their way, there's no time to explain, just get out of there now!"

"Okay, we're leaving. Let me just go up to Kono and Adam's room and get them. Are you downstairs?"

"Wait, they're not with you right now?"

Chin's heart froze in his chest.

"No, they're one floor up. But I know which room, I'll get up and get them in two minutes tops."

"Shit. Listen Mom, just get out now. We'll come in and get them, we're prepared. What's their room number?"

"1184."

"All right, we'll get them. Just get out of there now, okay?"

"Okay Steve. I'll be right down." She hung up.

Steve, Chin, and Danny didn't need to say a word. Armed with more weapons than a small army, they exited the SUV and sprinted to the side of the hotel where they threw open the door and ran inside.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

The room they entered was a small one off of the main lobby, a cheerful contrast to the dark night and their mission. Danny pointed out a staircase and they made their way over to it quickly.

"Chin?" a voice suddenly asked.

They spun, turning with guns raised to see none other than Adam. He looked noticeably different. Tired. Shaken. Afraid. His eyes widened at the sight of them. "What are you doing here? What's wrong?" His voice shook with emotion.

Chin walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Listen," he said. "The Yakuza are coming, if they're not already here. We're going to get you all out and to a safe place. Understand?"

Adam looked back at him. "Where's Kono?"

"Upstairs," said Steve, just as the door to the stairwell was thrown open.

"Mom," Steve said with relief as she pushed through the door. She ran up to her son and threw her arms around him.

"You all right?" he asked, hugging her back.

"I'm fine," she said, stepping back. "Adam, what are you doing down here? Is Kono with you?"

"She must still be upstairs," he said, turning white as a sheet and beginning to look around fearfully.

"Listen," said Steve. "You two get Adam and my mom to the car. Drive around the block, don't stop. I'll go up and get Kono, it'll be easier for just one person to sneak up there. We'll find you when we get down. Okay?"

"Here," Adam said, reaching a shaking hand into his pocket and pulling out a room key. "Room 1184," he said. He looked Steve right in the eyes. "Please hurry," he said desperately.

Steve put a hand on his shoulder, took one last look at his teammates and mother, and sprinted through the door and up the stairs. He was not taking the chance of running into someone in the elevators. He only hoped he wasn't too late.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

Kono was beginning to worry. Adam said he was going down for coffee and that was it. It shouldn't be taking this long, should it? She stood up and walked quickly out of the bedroom and down the hall.

Steve quickly unlocked the door using the room key Adam had given him. They didn't have much time. He stepped into the hotel room and turned to close the door behind him.

They both entered the room at the same moment. For just a little while their eyes met and stayed there, holding their connection from across the room, Steve's a sure, confident stare, Kono's a shocked and surprised one. She, like Adam, looked more stressed than a human being should. Her eyes were lined with circles and were red, as if she hadn't slept in days. Already thin, she looked as though she might have even lost weight. He was sick at the thought of her life becoming such a hell.

They watched each other for a few more seconds, saying more with their stare than they ever could with words. Then, they both walked quickly over to each other to meet in the center of the room, and threw their arms around each other.

Kono could see it in Steve's eyes and feel in the way he hugged her just how much he had missed her. Steve could see in the near-tears and her embrace just how much she wanted to be back at home. They held each other for a few more seconds before each of them stepped back.

"Let's go."

"Where's Adam and Doris?"

"Downstairs with Chin and Danny. They should be in the car by now."

"It's the Yakuza, isn't it? They found us."

"Yes, but we'll talk about that later."

He could practically feel the urgency of the situation running through him in his veins. Yet this had all been incredibly easy. Nothing was happening, and that was exactly why Steve was so suspicious. He and Kono walked quickly yet silently through the hotel room and to the door, holding hands tightly, because he was not going to let her disappear again, and because she was determined to get home. If they could only get to the others, then they could all leave. But what had happened to the people they were so sure would attack at any moment?

And then it happened. Steve had been a Navy Seal and a cop for too long to ignore the feeling that suddenly struck, the feeling that told him something was terribly wrong. He stopped just before the door and held up a hand to Kono.

She looked at him, wide-eyed, questioning. He listened for another second, then quickly backed away from the door, pulling her with him. It would not be as simple as walking out.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

It had been too long. How long did it take a Navy Seal to run up eleven flights of stairs? Surely he found the room right away. Surely Kono was with him by now. Surely they were on their way down.

But then where the hell were they? A million thoughts rushed through Danny's mind. He was caught on the way up. They were both caught on the way down. Steve had arrived at the room to find Kono already…

He couldn't take it anymore. He knew it might interfere with their progress but he had to know. If they were in trouble he'd be going back in after them. He pulled out his phone, dialed Steve, and waited the agonizing three seconds it took him to answer.

"Danny."

"Hey, where are you?"

"Listen to me, we're trapped. Somehow they knew we were coming, and they're outside the door right now. They could come in at any second. I have no idea how many of them there are."

"Is Kono with you?" came Chin's voice, and Steve assumed he was on speaker.

"Yeah, she is. We need help now."

"We're coming," said Danny. "But do you know if—"

"Wait." There was a painfully long pause. Then Steve dropped all efforts to keep quiet as he suddenly yelled, "Kono, get down!"

Shots could be heard from Danny's end of the phone. He swore as he jumped out of the car and ran back to the building with Chin, Adam, and Doris right behind him.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

"Yeah, she is. We need help now," Steve said into the phone, putting as much authority as he could into a whisper.

There was a pause as he listened, and Kono watched as he turned quickly to face the door. A look of alarm crossed his face. "Wait," he said, continuing to watch. Then he yelled, "Kono, get down!"

She didn't have to know anything about what was going on. When Steve McGarrett told you to duck, you simply did. She dropped to the floor, landing hard on her knees, catching herself with her hands before her face hit the floor as well.

As soon as her knees had hit the ground, she not only heard but felt the bullets as they ripped through the door like it was paper and flew into the space where her head had been one second before.

She felt Steve dive on top of her, one of his hands on her head. In the chaos she blindly grabbed for his arm and held on, even if it made no difference to their situation. In moments like these things didn't have to make sense to help.

She felt Steve's other hand grab her arm and pull her up to standing though they stayed bent over, bullets still flying overhead, the door ripped to shreds by now.

They ran as fast as they could to the balcony, threw open the door, and began to climb over the railing. In the dark it was hard to find their footing, and Steve knew that at eleven stories up they could very well die while trying to save their lives, but they had to try.

From inside the hotel room he could just make out figures slowly entering through what was once a doorway. He quickly glanced over at Kono. They were both on the other side of the railing, crouched low, trying not to be seen but still fearful of climbing lower and possibly missing their footing in the dark.

But they had to go. Steve carefully picked up one foot and stretched as far as he could below him. He could just barely reach what he assumed was the railing of the balcony below them.

Carefully, he swung his legs back and forward as he let go. He landed on solid concrete as quietly as he could.

He looked up to Kono and could see she had lowered herself to hanging by her hands, just as he had, and was about to attempt the same swing. He stepped back to give her room and watched as her dark silhouette landed perfectly on the balcony.

They turned to the glass doors leading to the hotel room and listened. They heard no sounds from within. "Should we break in?" asked Kono.

"I'm not sure. If the Yakuza are already in the building, we're going to run into them."

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Danny. "Hey, we're okay. We're one floor down on the balcony. Where are you?"

"Next to the doors we came in at."

"Okay, start driving. Don't give them a chance to catch up to you. We'll get down as soon as we can."

"We're going to wait for you."

"No Danny, you've got to go. You can stay in the area, but just drive. They just shot up the entire room. They're prepared, they know we're here. Just go, okay?"

Danny sighed on the other end. "Fine," he said. Then, "Adam wants to talk to Kono."

"Okay, put him on." He handed the phone to Kono while they crouched in the darkness of the balcony.

He tried his best not to listen as a tearful Kono tried to convince Adam not to worry. He could hear the poor guy's voice on the other end of the phone and he sounded near a breakdown. After a few moments she handed the phone back to him, and he could see her swipe at her eyes in the dark.

He put a hand on her arm. "It's going to be all right."

"How? It's all wrong right now."

He could hear the stress in her voice, and pulled her into a hug. She leaned into him but did not cry. She stayed so still it was as if she had fallen asleep. After a few moments he pulled back.

"Listen, we will get out of here. It might take a little while, but we will. Okay?"

"Okay," she whispered.

For the next hour they sat low on the balcony and listened as police swarmed the building. They figured that as the only room key they held was where the shooting had taken place, they needed to keep Kono out of sight. Plus Steve, with his bulletproof vest and three guns, might seem suspicious.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

Chin had taken to texting every fifteen minutes. Kono quickly took the phone and kept it as she messaged him back.

When the room whose balcony they were on was being searched, they hid to the sides where they found just enough cover that the officers inspecting the room wouldn't be able to see them. The thought didn't give them much hope that the Yakuza weren't able to hide just as easily from them.

From Chin's updates they learned that their group had taken to driving within a six block radius of the hotel, keeping an eye out for anyone suspicious. So far they had seen nothing at all, leading Steve and Kono to believe that they were still hanging around and waiting.

After another hour had gone by since the police had searched the room, Steve silently picked the lock on the balcony door and they let themselves in.

They had already determined from listening to the search that no one was staying in this particular room. Steve checked his supplies and studied a map of the hotel while Kono got a glass of water and sat down on the couch.

"Okay," he said after a few moments. He came and sat down on the couch next to her, map in hand. "They'll have blocked off the elevators and stairs by now. We can always climb down by balconies, but that's risky and it might take a while. Plus it's likely we'll be seen now that people know there's something going on. Rooftop's a possibility as we're only two floors away, but they might be up there as well. I think we've only got one option left."

Red rimmed eyes met his clear ones. "What's that?"

**-H50-H50-H50-**

Oddly enough, this was not the first time either of them had done this. When she signed on to be a cop Kono had never thought this was where it would lead her, but she couldn't say her life hadn't been interesting. And climbing through an air conditioning duct in a Shanghai hotel with her boss in the middle of the night to escape assassins and flee the country was definitely interesting, to say the least.

She had climbed through an air duct once two years ago to spy on suspects for a case, and another time seven months prior to sneak into a building and let the guys in after her. Both times had been unpleasant, and this was no different.

It was a good thing neither of them were claustrophobic or too allergic to heavy amounts of dust. The vent was just wide enough for Steve to squeeze through laying on his stomach, and was filled with so much dust and whatever else that it was difficult to breathe. But they continued forward, pushing their way through.

"It slopes down here," said Kono.

"Can you see where it goes?"

She shined her flashlight down the slanted shaft. "No, but I don't think it closes at the bottom," she answered, not wanting to think about sliding face first into it, meeting a dead end, and being unable to pull herself up.

"You want to try it?"

"We've gotta get downstairs somehow."

"Okay. Be careful."

Kono carefully inched forward into the shaft, trying as much as possible to shine her flashlight into it. She started to make her way down, one hand on the grimy floor to stop herself if she needed to. It was about twelve feet down in total. She continued forward until her feet left the main vent and she was completely slanted forwards.

Every instinct told her to panic, but she suppressed them by thinking about how she was only crawling that much closer to freedom. She breathed in as deeply as she could despite the dust and continued sliding down.

At the bottom she quickly shined her light to her right and left. Both open passageways. She sighed with relief. "Okay," she said quietly up the shaft to Steve. "Which way?"

She waited while he studied his map with his own flashlight. "Left."

They continued their slow progress through the building. As the time wore on the dust seemed to grow thicker and the vents smaller, but she didn't think about that. She thought only about the people who would be at the bottom.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

"Where are they?"

Adam had taken to asking that question every five minutes from the backseat. Doris, who was obviously worried herself, nonetheless sat silently beside him, looking out the window and not saying a word.

"I don't know," said Chin. "I'll text them again."

He did so and set the phone on the console to wait for an answer while Danny drove in a mile wide radius around the hotel.

Five minutes later the phone vibrated, and he barely picked it up before Adam grabbed it himself. "In the vents. Safe. Will text later," he read out loud.

"In the vents?" Doris asked, sounding not at all surprised, as if they had just announced they had run to the store for groceries.

"That's what they said," reported Chin.

"How long will it take them to get out?" asked Adam.

"No idea," Chin said. "Don't worry," he added. "Kono's actually had to go through some before. And I'm sure Steve has at one point or another as well."

Adam nodded and sat back in his seat, running his hands over his hair.

"I'm going to stop," Danny announced. "We're running low on gas, and I'd rather not have to fill up here." He pulled over to a curb about a half mile from the hotel and they sat in silence in the dark.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

Steve didn't get sick easily and had never dealt with allergies worse than the common cold, but after thirty minutes of crawling through the ventilation system, he was wheezing with every breath he took. Up ahead, he thought he heard Kono doing the same. The dust had gathered so thickly around their arms as they pulled their way through that Steve was literally picking up handfuls and throwing it behind him.

He estimated they had crawled down seven floors at this point. Once they got to the bottom he could only hope they could find an isolated room to bust out of the vents and seek some kind of refuge in before calling the rest of the team. As bad as their current situation was, he had to remind himself that the other four were safe.

Kono coughed up ahead into her sleeve, trying her best to muffle it. He remembered how sick with stress she had looked and could only imagine that this was even more horrible for her.

"Doing okay?" he asked, voice scratchy.

She didn't answer but extended a thumbs up back to him.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

Thirty minutes had gone by since the last text. Danny thought Adam was going to claw through the car if they didn't hear from them soon. He knew how he was feeling, having someone he cared about in danger. But, he supposed, he didn't know what it was like to be chased by a small army of very powerful thugs who wanted him dead, and what it must have been like to leave it all behind and come here to try and hide, constantly living in fear. And he hoped he'd never feel anything like that.

The sound of the phone vibrating made all four of them jump. "What does it say?" Doris asked before Chin had even picked up the phone.

"They're calling," he said. And into the phone, "Hey."

"Okay, we're out," said Kono quietly. She sounded tired. "We're trying to find a safe way out of the building. Where are you?"

"Headed that way," said Chin as he motioned to Danny.

"Be right there," he said as the car traced the now familiar route back to the hotel.

**-H50-H50-H50-**


	2. Chapter 2

_The sound of the phone vibrating made all four of them jump. "What does it say?" Doris asked before Chin had even picked up the phone. _

_"They're calling," he said. And into the phone, "Hey."_

_"Okay, we're out," said Kono quietly. She sounded tired. "We're trying to find a safe way out of the building. Where are you?"_

_"Headed that way," said Chin as he motioned to Danny._

_"Be right there," he said as the car traced the now familiar route back to the hotel._

**-H50-H50-H50-**

Kono and Steve peeked carefully out of a back door to the hotel and saw no one. "Okay, I'm gonna call Danny and Chin, you keep an eye out, okay?"

She nodded, coughing into her sleeve again. Steve dialed the number and waited, watching the hallway leading back into the lobby. "Hey," he said. "We're around the back."

"Steve," Kono said suddenly, and he knew. When she said his name, it meant business. "Hang on," he said to Danny as he turned to Kono. "What is it?"

"That car over there. That's not them, is it?"

Steve looked to where she was pointing. No, it definitely wasn't them. The car in question sat about fifty feet away down the alleyway behind the hotel. It's lights were off but it was running.

"Okay," he said, pulling her back. "Get back in. Danny? Yeah, something's wrong. Don't come to the back of the hotel, okay? Pull up out front. Let's go," he said to Kono as he started back along the hallway.

But before they could take two steps a figure suddenly appeared from the lobby and blocked their exit. The man looked straight at them with no surprise and they knew. He whistled once and reached into his jacket pocket.

"Okay, go, go," he said quickly to Kono who was already pushing her way back through the door into the alley. As Steve turned back to look, two more men had joined the first and had guns drawn.

"Steve!"

He turned quickly and ran out the door after Kono, and the two took off.

The people in the car obviously hadn't expected them to come out running, but as soon as it was apparent they were trying to escape, tires squealed as the car rushed forward in their direction.

They were almost to the end of the alley. Kono got there first and made to turn left, to circle back around to the front, but stopped abruptly. "No, other way!" she yelled, and Steve didn't need to see what it was to listen to her. They ran off down the smaller street and into the night.

Steve could hear people yelling from the phone he was still gripping in his hand. "Hold on," he said quickly as he lowered it from his face again and ran. "Cross!" he yelled and he and Kono darted suddenly across the road. An oncoming car braked and honked at them, and in the momentary chaos Steve looked back to see the car inadvertently cut off three men who were chasing them. "Go, run!" he yelled.

They sprinted through another alleyway and came out onto a busier street. They cut through lanes of speeding cars, raced into a bar and out through its back door, made their way quickly down a very small street lined with storage units, and ran out onto another busier street. "Here!" Kono said quickly as she ran through the front doors of a nightclub.

It was perfect cover. The place was so crowded and so loud, full of people drunk or on their way to that point, that no one noticed or cared about them. Steve and Kono pushed their way through the crowd and into a hallway that led to the restrooms. Steve looked around the corner and watched the door, and that was when he saw him: a man he was almost positive had chased them out of the hotel. "Shit," he hissed.

"Are they here?"

"At least one of them is."

"In here." She grabbed Steve's arm and pulled him down the hallway and into the women's restroom.

"Hello?" she called out impatiently. A quick sweep of the grimy bathroom told them no one was there. She locked the door behind them. "Can't run anymore," she said, leaning back against the wall.

"All right, I think we're okay," he said. He held up his phone to his ear. "Danny? You still there?"

Kono could hear Danny, quite angry, on the other end of the phone. "I don't know, a nightclub," Steve was saying, pacing back and forth across the small room. "Yeah, we're fine, but these guys are everywhere." He listened for a moment and Danny could be heard ranting again. "Listen, where are you?" he asked. A pause. "Okay, listen. Just listen for a minute, okay?" He waited. "Hello?" He looked down at his phone, pulled it back abruptly, and stopped himself just before throwing it against the door. He looked at Kono. "Battery died."

Kono sighed in frustration and gripped her hair tightly. "Okay," she said. "Let's wait a minute, give them time to find this place, then go outside. Maybe they'll see us and pick us up."

"Somebody else might see us first though."

"Then we shoot them. Give me one of those guns."

Steve hesitated, thinking that in her current state she probably shouldn't be using a firearm, but for protection's sake decided she needed to be armed. "Here," he said, handing her one of the guns. "Oh, and here." He pulled one of the knives out of his boot and gave it to her. "Oh, and this," he said, reaching into a pocket of his vest and pulling out none other than a small grenade. "Only for emergencies," he said, placing it in her hand.

"Right, not like this," she said, waving her arm around the bathroom.

For some reason, whether due to the stress or because he was actually feeling a little better, Steve laughed. Kono looked at him, annoyed. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said. "Just the way you said it. I've missed you," he said, suddenly serious.

"I missed you too. I want to get out of here so bad."

"Hey, we will. Promise."

Their eyes met, each remembering. She smiled a half smile at him.

"How long should we wait?" she asked.

"I don't know. Five minutes maybe? That'll give them time to circle around a bit. And if those guys go through here and don't find us, they might move on."

"I hope so."

"What, you don't like this? Isn't this nice?" he motioned at the mirror, where someone had drawn a sexually explicit drawing in lipstick.

"It's great, but the air vent was better."

"Yeah, that was refreshing. We should find a place at home to do that on a regular basis."

"Only if we follow it up with running through busy traffic."

They were both smiling by now, and they needed that.

Kono suddenly turned and began to cough violently. Steve walked up to her. "Hey, you okay?"

She nodded. "Dust," she managed to say before coughing for another full minute.

After it stopped Steve said, "I'd suggest drinking some water, but from the looks of this place you're better off where you are."

She smiled.

"Let's go out front now, okay?"

**-H50-H50-H50-**

"He said they were at a nightclub, probably to lose those guys, but then his phone died."

"There are a million nightclubs open right now."

"Adam, please, just calm down, we'll find them," Danny said, circling around another block.

Doris looked anxiously out her window as they wound through the streets of the crowded city. There were thousands of people out walking, hundreds of places open for business, and somewhere in it all was a group of gang members who wanted Kono and Adam dead. And by extension herself, the two other men in the car with her, and most importantly, her son.

She thought of the two of them out there, alone in a strange city, being chased by these guys, and at once the anger boiled up to rest next to the fear already inside of her.

Her son. Her only son. The one she hadn't seen for twenty years of his life. She simply couldn't stand the thought of something happening to him. He was undeniably good, and even if he weren't family to her she'd say the same thing.

And then there was Kono, who she hadn't spent much time around until leaving with her and Adam five weeks prior. In that time they had become very close, and Doris was reminded of her own daughter. She'd die before she let anything happen to either her or her son.

Her eyes scanned the passing sidewalks so intensely that she paid no attention to anything else. Luckily though, Chin did.

"Danny," he said sharply. Danny looked quickly over at him. "Behind us."

Doris and Adam quickly turned to look behind them and saw the van driving a little too close and only getting closer.

"Shit," Danny said, then abruptly swerved their car to the right and sped off onto the new street.

The car behind them did the same and accelerated as much as it could, nearly hitting several pedestrians in the process.

"We're getting further away from Kono and Steve!" Adam yelled.

"We've got no choice!" Danny yelled back. "They're gonna do whatever it takes to kill us, we've gotta lose them."

"Think like Steve, think like Steve," he muttered to himself as he drove the car through the streets.

It seemed to work. Fifteen minutes later they burst out onto a main road with no sign of anyone behind them.

Chin sat back in his seat and exhaled slowly. "Close."

"Too close. These guys are everywhere."

"So now we've got to go back for them," said Adam.

Chin sighed. "We can't in this car. If we do, they'll kill us and Steve and Kono."

"So what do we do?" Adam sounded near hysterics.

"We'll think of something," said Doris, though she sounded desperate herself. "We'll get back to them, I promise."

**-H50-H50-H50-**

"Do you see anything?" Kono asked, rubbing her hands over her arms in the chilly night air.

Steve looked up and down the sidewalk as far as he could see. "No," he said.

They were standing just outside of the nightclub they had run into earlier. They had been waiting for ten tense minutes for the SUV Steve had described. So far, nothing.

"Come on," said Steve, turning and walking through the crowd. "Let's find a phone, I'll call them again."

They made their way through the crowds of people, Steve feeling like an open target. He had on his vest under a shirt and was armed with two guns, one knife, and a small hand grenade. Kono had no vest but she did have the same weapons he did, except for only one gun. It was being out in the open that made him so nervous. A shot could come from nowhere at any time, and they'd never see it coming.

They walked down the street, away from the direction of the hotel. They passed a smaller hotel and Steve doubled back. "They'll probably have a phone in here," he said.

This hotel was smaller and nearly deserted at this time of night, so it was much easier to keep an eye out for people around them. They found a small room off the main lobby that had several payphones lining the walls. They each looked at each other and began searching their pockets.

Steve pulled some change out of his pocket and quickly counted it, only to have it knocked abruptly out of his hand when Kono grabbed him and pushed him as hard as she could back into the wall. A second later the glass door to the room shattered as bullets exploded through it.

They ducked to the floor, pulling out their guns and aiming through the door. Kono took one shot and Steve saw one of the men go down. There were two others though, and by the way they were walking and handling their weapons, they seemed to know what they were doing.

Steve shot at one but missed, and the second one shot back at him. He ducked behind a pay phone on the wall.

He saw Kono shoot again and peeked out briefly. Her second shot just missed one of the men. She turned to look at Steve, the question already in her eyes for him to read, but she asked it anyway.

"Is this an emergency?"

They both knew it was. Before he could pull his own grenade out of his pocket she held hers in her hand. She clicked the top and threw it hard around the pay phone and they both immediately ducked and covered their ears.

The explosion was instantaneous. The glass windows of the room shattered and debris rained down on them. They looked around amid the smoke and fire and needed no encouragement to know what to do.

They stood up, jumped through the broken windows, and ran.

**-H50-H50-H50-**


	3. Chapter 3

_"Is this an emergency?"_

_They both knew it was. Before he could pull his own grenade out of his pocket she held hers in her hand. She clicked the top and threw it hard around the pay phone and they both immediately ducked and covered their ears._

_The explosion was instantaneous. The glass windows of the room shattered and debris rained down on them. They looked around amid the smoke and fire and needed no encouragement to know what to do._

_They stood up, jumped through the broken windows, and ran._

**-H50-H50-H50-**

**TWELVE HOURS LATER**

Danny, Chin, Adam, and Doris had spent the past twelve hours scouring the city for Steve and Kono. They had no way to contact either of them and so were reduced to driving carefully around the area, in a new car this time, hoping to catch a glimpse of them.

Every now and then they would see someone suspiciously driving around as they were, or see someone walking through the streets and paying a little too much attention to what was going on through the windows of buildings. But no Steve and Kono.

They were positive they were alive. The Yakuza would have announced the killings in some way if they were dead. Or if they had been captured they would have communicated it to them somehow in hopes of drawing the four of them to their friends. But even still the doubt crept in.

It hadn't been as bad as when they saw the hotel that had endured some kind of explosion. Rumor was that there had been a short gunfight before it had happened, and that three bodies, those of known Yakuza gang members, had been found. They all knew Steve carried grenades, so they all reasoned it must have been he who set it off, and that he and Kono had then run away. The question now was, where were they?

They all knew how dangerous it was to be there. It was only a matter of time before they were found out. Chin and Danny had discussed this alone, talking about how Adam was still a target and was extremely unsafe in this city. They knew they had to get him out of there, and soon.

As for Doris, the same held true. She was known to have been traveling with Adam and Kono all this time, and the Yakuza would not forgive that. Especially not considering who her son was.

But as for the actual leaving, it was something that neither of them could decide to do. Leaving without having brought Kono back, and losing Steve in their attempted rescue, felt more wrong than they could say during their early morning talk when both had realized sleep was impossible at this point. If they had some kind of contact from them, if they could at least hear from them to say that yes, they were alive, then they could take Adam and Doris back to Hawaii where they had the governor and the entire Hawaii State Police Force on their side. Without knowing, they each knew that they could not leave yet.

Danny and Chin walked to the table of the small coffee shop where they had convened for a brief rest. They spotted Adam and Doris waiting for them by the doors, talking tensely, looking all around them. They clearly weren't giving up either.

"Poor guy," Danny said, referring to Adam. "I've never seen anybody look sicker and still be walking around."

"He looks how I feel right now," said Chin, and Danny patted him on the back.

"Ready?" Adam asked, looking at them expectantly.

"Yeah," said Danny. He paused. He wanted to say something encouraging, maybe _We'll find them_ or _I can sense they're okay,_ but he couldn't. He was met with the overwhelming hopelessness and danger of the situation and he couldn't.

He almost didn't register as his phone rang. A full second passed in which Chin, Adam, and Doris looked at him wide-eyed and he blinked, looking down at the phone as if he'd never seen it before in his life. But a second later he had pressed Talk and held it so hard to his head that it hurt. "Hello? Steve? Kono?"

"Danno!" came Steve's cheerful, wonderfully alive, voice from the other end.

Danny bent over and placed his free hand on his knee. He sighed. "Where the hell are you two?"

"Well, you'll never believe it," said Steve, and Danny could hear what sounded like wind in the background.

"Are you two all right?"

"Yeah man, we're all right. How about all of you?"

"We're fine," he said as he surveyed their group of pale, sleep-deprived members who all looked like they'd been hit by a car. "Where are you?"

Steve laughed on the other end. "Beijing."

Danny said nothing. He waited. Surely he had heard wrong. Surely not another something so random and difficult had just come into his life. Again.

"I'm sorry, you're going to have to repeat that."

"Well, somewhere outside of Beijing, I don't know. We got through it about an hour ago. Or two hours ago. We're in the middle of nowhere, somewhere outside of Beijing."

"What's that noise I hear?"

"We caught a ride on the back of a train."

Danny closed his eyes. Of all the things that had happened over the last five weeks, of everything they had endured during their time here, and of all the things Steve and Kono had ever gotten themselves into, this was it. This won, hands down.

"Danny? You there?"

"What is it?" asked Chin. "Where are they?"

Danny could not speak. He simply handed the phone over to Chin.

Chin listened for a moment and a look of awe mixed with tired frustration crossed his face. Doris and Adam looked to Danny for information. "On a train," he said. "Near Beijing."

"He wants to talk on speaker," said Chin as they grouped together at a table and he held the phone between them.

"Kono?" Adam asked desperately.

"Adam, I'm here," she called out, and it was obvious they were outside.

"What's going on? Danny said you were on a train."

"In a very literal way, yes," she answered.

"Listen," came Steve's voice. "Literally no one on the planet could find us here. We're going to get back to Hawaii eventually, so don't worry about us. You guys need to all get back now too."

"Okay, but if we find you, we can help you get back," Danny argued.

"If I barely even know where we are, I don't think that's going to happen."

Danny threw his hand up in frustration and rolled his eyes.

"Steve, are you two sure you're all right?" asked Doris.

"Yeah Mom, we're fine. Trust us, and get back to Hawaii and put Adam in protective custody. Mom, you should too, they know you helped. We'll get back as soon as we can."

"Do you even have any money?" asked Danny. "You've never had your wallet before, why would you now?" He was starting in on another rant, but they all knew it was because of his relief.

"I've got a credit card but I'm not sure about using it since it can be tracked. Other than that, I've got about a hundred bucks."

"I've got fifty!" came Kono's voice from the background.

Danny sighed. "Oh good, so then you can afford lunch for a few weeks, that's great."

"Where do you eat lunch?" Steve asked, genuinely sounding curious and confused.

"Oh, I eat lunch at the normal places, thank you—"

"Who spends that much on lunch?"

"No one! How are you going to get back on that kind of money?"

"Well, as long as we don't eat at the same places you obviously do—"

"You'll be lucky to get a decent hotel room for that much—"

"Guys!" came Kono's voice from the other end.

"How can we reach you?" asked Adam.

"I'm sorry, but we'll have to contact you," said Kono. "We're using a phone we stole and we'll have to get it back soon."

"Kono, Steve, listen to me," said Chin in his most serious tone. "Be careful. Take care of each other, and don't assume for a second that it isn't possible for them to find you."

There was a pause on the other end, and then Kono said, "Okay cuz. We will."

Though it was hard they said their goodbyes then, Adam and Kono obviously wanting to talk longer but they both knew they had more important things to do at the moment. They hung up the phone and Adam sighed.

"Well, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I've never been happier to go back to Hawaii," said Danny, smiling for the first time in days.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

Kono looked over at Steve as he hung up the phone and put it safely in his pocket. Holding onto a rail in front of her, legs hanging off the train by her knees, she watched the fields and forests as they passed them, thinking of all that had happened in the last twelve hours.

She looked over at Steve again and they caught each other's eyes, waited just a moment, and both laughed. They laughed with relief at having confirmed everyone they cared about was safe, at having finally escaped the Yakuza, and over the sheer ridiculousness of their situation.

After their laughter subsided, Kono leaned back against the car and let her mind wander, as safe a thing as that was to do when hanging off the back of a moving train.

They had run out of the hotel after the grenade went off, through the midnight streets of Shanghai, with seemingly inexhaustible Yakuza members chasing them down, finding them wherever they tried to hide. They tried their best to stay in the area where their family was. But eventually it all came down to simple survival, and to do that, they just had to keep running.

_"Where do we go?"_

_"I don't know. Hang on."_

_"They're coming right now!"_

_"Okay, okay. Here, quick, get on the bus."_

_They climbed aboard the bus at the last second, Steve throwing cash at the driver as he and Kono rushed down the aisle to a darkened seat, sitting low into it. There were only a few other passengers and they paid them no attention. _

_Both breathed heavily as they sat low in the seat, tired from running, which they had been doing for over an hour by now. Steve watched Kono's darting gaze, her pale face occasionally illuminated by a street light. He knew that although it hadn't been literal until just now, that Kono had been running for a long time. He thought about his life in Hawaii these past few weeks and at once felt incredibly guilty for having ownership over such concepts as safety and peace of mind. _

_"Hey."_

_She looked at him, worry etched on her face._

_"No, it's okay. Are you all right?"_

_She made a noise of agreement and went back to looking out the window. Her eyes never stopped moving._

_"We'll find them, and we'll go home. Promise."_

_A pained expression came over her face. She looked like she was going to cry, but didn't. He reached for her hand and she held his back tightly. They continued sitting low in the seat together and didn't say another word._

_As it turned out, the bus ended up taking them to the other side of the city entirely. As neither of them knew the city well they didn't realize this until the driver told them it was time to get off._

_They stepped out onto the curb of the unfamiliar setting, still holding hands, and looked around. "Where the hell…" Steve began._

_It was two in the morning. They walked for a ways through the streets before deciding that they could not have ended up in a worse neighborhood to be in at night. Finally they stopped to rest on the front stoop of a small shop. _

_Kono did not remember falling asleep. She remembered sitting down, asking Steve what time it was, and the next thing she knew, early morning light was beginning to filter through her eyes and the sounds of the city waking up greeted her._

_Steve was still holding her hand and sitting up, wide awake. _

_They walked through the early morning, looking for a place to make a call from, looking for anything that was familiar, but found nothing. _

_Kono was hungry and incredibly thirsty, but nothing could be done about either of those things and so she said nothing. _

_"When one of these places opens, we'll go in and see if we can use a phone," said Steve. "Then we'll just hide somewhere and wait for them."_

_"They must be losing their minds."_

_They walked slowly down a sidewalk, looking for a coffee shop or some other business that would be open this early. There was hardly anyone else out at this time of day, which made it a lot easier to watch for people who were after them. A few people walked by them who were obviously on their way to work. One or two teenagers strolled around, taking their time getting home. A few people who had obviously partied too hard sat on benches or simply laid on the ground._

_One in particular was walking toward them on the sidewalk. He stumbled in their direction and they both ignored him, focusing ahead of them. As he got closer though, he reached out in Kono's direction, saying something foreign and grabbing her arm._

_"Hey!" Steve said, leaning in front of Kono to push the man away. _

_And at that very moment he was knocked forcefully into the man and Kono by the bullet that tore through the early morning air._

_All three tumbled to the sidewalk. The man began screaming and waving his arms at them. "Steve!" Kono screamed. He had a hand to his side but did not appear to be in any pain. "Go, go!" he yelled as they both jumped to their feet. _

_Another shot rang out and hit a lamppost near them. They ran back down the sidewalk from where they came and darted into an alleyway._

_They ran for six blocks before Steve grabbed Kono's arm and pulled her roughly to the side where they ran onto a smaller street and up to a loading dock. They jumped into the back of an eighteen wheeler and ducked behind boxes just as a man came out of a nearby building and slammed and locked the lid, plunging them into total darkness. Within a minute the truck had started and they felt themselves being driven along a roadway._

_"Steve, are you all right?"_

_"Yeah. Just got the vest."_

_She sighed in the darkness._

_"I know. Not the best plan," he admitted._

_"No, it's…Steve, they almost killed me. We walked right into them. If that guy hadn't have grabbed me and you hadn't stepped in front of me just like you did…"_

_"And I'd do it all again."_

_"I hate this. You might die and it's all because of me."_

_"No. No, it isn't. It's about very corrupt and dangerous people who hurt others without a thought for them. It is not about you, or anyone else but them." He paused in the dark, and they were inches from each other. "And just for the record, if I died saving you, I'd consider that a pretty good way to go."_

_She laughed bitterly. "Well, you shouldn't think that. I never wanted any of you dragged into this."_

_"And we never wanted this for you. But you're in it, so I am too. Got it?"_

_"Yeah. Got it."_

_"Good."_

_They sat together in the dark for a while and said nothing, reflexively sitting close to each other. Kono's head was spinning. All the running, all the stress, now combined with anxiety for the others and sitting in the pitch darkness of a truck they were locked in, and she didn't think she could take anymore. Her instinct was to first claw her way out of this truck and after that, run back to where she knew the rest of her family was. But she knew she couldn't listen to that right now. Nothing about this situation demanded a normal handling. _

_So they sat quietly, unmoving, for three hours. Steve fell asleep after ten minutes, and while Kono hated the idea of basically being alone, she did not wake him up. Letting him get a few hours of sleep was the least she could do considering everything he'd done for her._

_After three hours the truck had stopped, been unlocked, and wonderful light had been let in to them. When the driver was distracted they had jumped out of the back and set off to explore their new surroundings. In a matter of five minutes Kono thought she saw someone she recognized from Hawaii, someone she saw with Michael a few times. She and Steve had taken no chances and had set off at a run around the small town they found themselves in. _

_"Listen," Steve had told her as they came to a momentary stop. "We've got two choices: one is we stick around, try and find a phone, a safe place to wait, and have the others come and get us; two is we keep running, hope we lose them, and get home on our own. What do you think?"_

_What do I think? I want to be with Adam. I want to see Chin and Danny, and be with Doris again, who reminds me so much of you it's insane. "They're probably still there looking for us."_

_"I know. And the further we get the harder it's going to be for them to find us."_

_"So we should split up for good?"_

_"It might be for the best. Look, they'll be fine. They've got enough money. All we've got to do is call them and tell them to get themselves back home and that we'll meet them there when we can. It's quicker than us trying to find each other, and we might be safer in two groups anyway."_

_She sighed and bit at her lip. It felt wrong—no, it felt insane to be separated from them, but Steve had a point. They were already here, wherever here was, and the longer they took trying to find each other the more danger they were both in._

_"Okay," she agreed almost silently._

_"Okay," he said, standing up straight and looking around. He seemed to be focused on something over Kono's shoulder. "I've got an idea."_

By far the hardest part about the train ride was jumping onto the already moving train itself. It wasn't going too fast, but the idea sounded a lot easier than it actually was. It took every last bit of strength and concentration she had, and once they were settled onto the last car, on a space just big enough for two people to sit, Kono had finally been able to relax.

It was impossible not to, surrounded by such a beautiful landscape. It took her mind away from the countless hours and endless days filled with one hotel after another, always keeping one eye open, always watching, counting, wondering. Doris had told her that the one thing that kept her sane on her days on the run was being able to live in such a beautiful place. Kono had thought she understood at the time, but she really didn't. Not until this very moment.

Steve waited an hour and then carefully opened the door to the back of the train, announcing that he was going to find a phone. Kono assumed he would find one and use it there, and so was a little surprised when he came back with a regular cell phone in his hand.

"People shouldn't leave their purses open," he said. "Although that'll make it easy to give back later."

An hour had gone by since they had finished their conversation. They decided to wait to return the phone in case someone saw Steve going in and out of the train.

"So what's it been like hanging out with my mom?" He was smiling.

Kono smiled too. "Bit like hanging out with you."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. She reminds me a lot of you. She always knew how to take care of things, what to do."

"Then she can't remind you of me. Look at where we are."

"But we're alive. In the past twelve hours you've saved my life about forty seven times. I'd say you're doing a good job."

"I couldn't have done any of this without you. You saved me too."

"Luck."

"No, I'm serious. I think as a team we're doing pretty good."

They lapsed into silence, simply reveling in the fact that they were able to feel sunshine and take a break from being hunted like animals.

"She missed you."

"What?"

"Your mom. She missed you."

"Oh."

"It's been hard on her Steve. Not just these past few weeks, but before too."

"What makes you say that?"

"I felt almost like my own mom was there with me. She wants to be that way. She wants to be there for you."

"She didn't happen to tell you anything about Wo Fat, did she?"

"No. Why?"

"Because until she does, things aren't gonna be like she wants. I can't ignore the fact that she's keeping something from me."

Kono sighed. "I think she really cares about us. I believe that. If she's keeping something from you, she's got a reason."

**-H50-H50-H50-**

Danny, Chin, Doris, and Adam arrived in Beijing six hours after their last phone call with Steve and Kono. They were accompanied by fatigue, sleeplessness, hunger, and a general paranoia about what could possibly surround them.

Chin had never been more exhausted in his life. He had been awake now for nearly seventy-two hours and in that time had been on a nine hour flight, had driven for hours, scoured a foreign city for his cousin and friend, and had just managed to keep a man from breaking down at every turn. Now, he was still in a foreign city, albeit a different one, having escaped three close calls in as many hours from the gang members, who, it seemed, were now coming after them.

They checked into a hotel under fake names and paid with cash. It was a small hotel that was in a busy area of the city, but not so busy as to seem obvious. They all went into Chin and Danny's double room to discuss a plan.

Chin had almost suggested they stop at a hospital instead. Adam had worried them all in Shanghai and was now, if possible, even worse. He leaned over and rested his head on his knees once they were seated around the small table in the room, eyes closed.

Chin took a breath, fighting his own tiredness. "I can't say anything to make this better." he began. "Except I really do believe in them. You know Kono, and I know both her and Steve. If any two people in the world can make it through this, it's them."

Adam nodded slowly, head still resting down. "It kills me that there's nothing I can do," he mumbled, eyes still closed. "God knows where they are right now, when we'll hear from them, and there's nothing I can do."

Chin couldn't think of what else to say, not because he had no more encouragement left to offer, but because he was currently slumped against the back of his chair, fast asleep.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

Danny tried to think of something to say, drew a complete blank, then settled for simply shrugging at Doris from their place on the small balcony, where they had left Chin and Adam who had both fallen asleep at the table.

"Crazy, isn't it?" She sounded as though they were discussing a mystery novel.

"Uh, yeah, crazy," said Danny, trying to be polite.

"I know my son," she said, looking him right in the eye. "And I know he'll be okay. They both will. They're strong."

"Yeah, they certainly are," said Danny. A memory suddenly came to him. "Did he ever tell you about the time he got caught by these guys we were investigating for running a drug ring? They were too scared to kill him, so they tied him up. Handcuffed him, too. So he chewed through the ropes. The three of us were all ready to go in after him, but before we could, he just walked out of there. Still had the handcuffs on though."

Doris laughed. She shook her head, looking out the window.

"Yeah," said Danny, happy to be brightening the mood. "And then another time we were all running after this guy, and he knows he's about to get caught so he jumps off a pier. He didn't think we'd follow him, see? But Kono jumped in after him. She caught up to him, and when she did, she just decked him right across the face. Then she cuffed him, still in the water. She dragged him outta there."

Doris smiled at him as he recounted the story. "Thank you Danny. Somehow tales of my son and Kono going through life-threatening situations and getting the upper hand are very comforting."

"Oh, well, you're welcome."

They looked out at the new city before them, each wondering when the next time would be that they would see their own city, one where dangers might still exist but were not around every corner, one where it didn't take aliases and pockets full of cash just to survive.

**-H50-H50-H50-**


	4. Chapter 4

Things had not gone according to plan. Three days after last speaking to their friends, Steve and Kono had finally gotten a hold of them again.

"Where the hell are you?"

"Well, see, it's like this. Every major city we go to, there's Yakuza. Okay? We're in Shanghai, Yakuza. We get up to Beijing, Yakuza. We think about going to another major country like Russia, yet somehow there's still Yakuza. So we think about maybe catching a boat over to Seoul, maybe even getting on another train and letting it carry us even further to the middle of nowhere where I understand literally nothing that's being said. But we figured there'd just be more Yakuza."

Danny sighed into the phone. This wasn't going at all like he had expected. "Okay," he said, trying to calm Steve down, which was never the case. "We can come and get you—"

"How? Aren't you back in Hawaii yet?"

"As disappointed as I should be that I am, no. We ran into a little trouble ourselves."

"What kind of trouble?"

"Is everybody okay?"

"Everybody's fine. Well, suffering from lack of sleep and a healthy sense of well-founded paranoia, but yes, we're fine."

"So what happened?" asked Steve.

"About the same thing that happened to you. We tried to get back, were found out, had to run, and we haven't caught a break since."

"Are you guys gonna be all right?"

"We'll have to be."

"It's gonna be hard to run with four of you," said Steve.

"I thought about that, but we've got more money between us than you two would be able to count right now, so as soon as we can get on a plane, we'll get back."

"How's Adam?" asked Kono, and Danny could hear the barely veiled desperation in her voice.

"He's okay," Danny lied. "All right. He's not. He's worried about you guys. We all are. I know you guys are trying your best, but please, please, please, give me some good news. Tell me you've got some kind of plan."

There was silence on the other end of the phone. Then Kono said quietly, "We might."

"Okay, good. What is it?"

"Well, we've been trying all this time to get there the short way," said Steve. "We think that's why we've been running into these guys everywhere. That's what they're expecting us to do. So we thought we might just take the other way around."

"The other way…?"

"West," Kono clarified.

"Oh," said Danny. "Oh. Great. The world tour, huh?"

"We won't see Australia."

"Or Africa. Most likely."

Danny muttered something into the phone that sounded like "Neanderthals." "That'll take weeks," he said in a normal voice, starting in on a rant. "You've got no money."

"Actually, we haven't spent any of it," said Steve. "We've been catching rides to places and stealing food and water when we need it. Kono's quite the thief."

"Oh, well, I feel better," said Danny.

"It's not that bad," said Kono, though she sounded ready to collapse. "The further we get from Asia in general, the less likely we'll run into these guys, and the harder we'll be to trace."

"So all you've gotta do is travel for thousands of miles through foreign countries illegally all while dragging dangerous gang members into their countries."

"Yes," they both said at the same time.

"Okay," said Danny. "Okay. You two listen to me, and listen good. McGarrett, I don't care if you're the boss. Right now, you're gonna do what I say. Okay? Okay.

"You will be safe. You will not take risks. You will call once every day no matter what. If you need help, you let us know. And when you two do eventually get back, I swear to God, I'm locking you in your homes for two weeks and you are not allowed out under any circumstances. Then, I'm putting you under twenty-four/seven surveillance so you can never leave Hawaii again, much less the country. Do both of you understand?"

There was a slight pause in which Danny could practically feel the two of them grinning over the phone. "Yes," Kono said finally, but it was with much more seriousness than he had thought he'd get. "I promise."

"Me too," said Steve.

Danny sighed again. "Please be careful."

"We will Danny," promised Kono again, somehow managing to sound very young and very old at the same time. "We love you guys, and we will get back."

"You'd better. And in one piece, too. I'd better not find you at my back door one night bleeding from a bullet wound or anything. Got it?"

"Got it, Danno. And you guys be safe too. Get back as soon as you can, don't wait for anything."

"Believe me, it's not for lack of trying."

They said their goodbyes, Steve promising once again to call in another twenty four hours. After he hung up Kono briefly put her head in her hands as she fought away frustrated tears.

Steve waited calmly, keeping a lookout. They were at a bus station in the middle of nowhere, having just used one of the payphones. After a moment she dropped her hands and looked at him.

"Ready?" he asked, trying to smile.

"Ready," she said, trying to smile back.

They set off to the nearest counter and bought tickets for the place furthest away from where they currently were.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

On a tiny rural road somewhere in China, Steve and Kono were both passed out on a bus, surrounded by people who spoke a language one of them barely understood and the other didn't at all. They found it easy to sleep anywhere now. In the past three days they had slept wherever they had found a place safe enough for at least one of them to get some rest. Then they'd wake up in a hurry and quickly move to another part of the city, steal a meal along the way, try to formulate a plan, and start all over again.

Kono woke with a start as the bus stopped, instantly wide awake. She elbowed Steve hard and he sat up immediately.

They were at a station and looked out around them. It wasn't their stop, but after a moment it became clear that they were the subject of attention from the people seated around them on the bus. As a few people got off and a few more entered the bus, they both silently decided that this was the end of their ride and they too quickly got off the bus and wandered into the new station. Still without speaking they bought new tickets, knowing their American money made them that much more of a target, and boarded another bus.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

Their first stroke of luck occurred six hours after boarding their second bus, when they arrived in a small rural town near a river. Neither had any idea where they were, and while Kono might have once found the idea terribly frightening, Steve held her hand tightly as they walked to a small airport and she wasn't afraid at all.

Thank God he spoke the language, even if it was halting and broken. Thank God the man they spoke to was friendly and didn't ask too many questions. Thank God the plane was leaving soon, thank God they obviously didn't look too much of a mess, thank God for being 10,000 feet in the air, flying over the Chinese countryside, making progress, escaping.

The small plane made her violently ill, and she knew from a lifetime of boats and surfing waves that it was the ever-present monster named stress, and she wondered vaguely what life had been like without it, because she surely couldn't remember anymore.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

"Hey, slow down," Danny said in an attempt at humor as he walked into the small lobby of their new hotel to find Adam sitting with an untouched breakfast in front of him.

"I can't eat this," he said, pushing the bowl away from him.

"Look pal, it's not doing you any good to not eat. I'm sure Kono wants you to be taking care of yourself."

"Yeah. I know. But I can't. I can't stop worrying about her. And Steve. After everything you guys did for us…"

"…None of which has to do with you not taking care of yourself. Not to sound too much like your mother, but eat. Seriously."

Adam picked up the spoon again but did not take a bite of food. Danny decided not to push him.

The daily calls from Steve and Kono did help. They sounded increasingly exhausted but at least they knew they were alive.

"Besides," he added, "we're going to need to be prepared to get home ourselves. I mean, I know all we've got to do is catch a plane undetected and not even a day later we'll be there, but…"

Adam looked up at him across the table. It was working. "What?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious.

Danny leaned forward on his elbows on the table a little. "I've got this strange feeling that even though they've got farther to go—even though they chose the insane idea of going four times further out of their way—I've got this strange feeling that—well, that they're racing us."

Adam laughed a little at that. "Oh, I thought about that too. Something Kono said yesterday on the phone. _'We're already in this place,'_ or something like that. I think you're right."

"I think I am. So get ready, because we've got two very stubborn and competitive people to beat back to Hawaii."


	5. Chapter 5

**-H50-H50-H50-**

7:00 P.M. St. Petersburg, Russia. A shopping mall, of all places.

It was their custom now, upon entering a new city, to lose themselves in the largest crowd of people they could find. Which right now happened to be this particular mall, while Steve kept his barely open eyes and half-functioning mind on the people around them, waiting for Kono to leave the restroom.

"If we can find a hotel room with a working shower, I will literally give you all of my money," Kono had said not ten minutes earlier. "All of the money I have in the bank at home. I will do your laundry for six months. I will go to the dentist for you. Because I want two things: a goddamn shower and a bed."

Steve had laughed. "Okay," he said as they pooled their money. Together they had close to $84.00. As they were so completely exhausted and only this side of functioning properly anymore, they agreed to find a cheap room for the night.

They were to leave to do just that as soon as Kono came back. Steve looked around him as he waited. There were tons of people, and several stands of clothing nearby. His eyes stopped on a rack filled with hoodies. He remembered how cold it was outside and how Kono had wrapped her arms around herself on their way inside the mall. But as was typical of her, she would never admit to something as silly as being cold. There was actually a lot she wasn't admitting to: how frightening their situation was, how much she missed her family and home. She shouldn't have to have one more thing to be miserable over.

Steve pushed away from the wall he was leaning against and walked over to the jackets. He picked one at random, a dark green with a tropical-looking flower print on the side in a one-tone lighter green that he knew she'd appreciate. He paid for the jacket and walked back toward the restrooms just as Kono came walking out of them.

"Here."

"What's this?"

"A jacket."

"Yeah, I know. Did you buy this?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

"Steve, we're supposed to be saving the money. What if something happens?"

"It's cold out. Don't worry about it."

She smiled. A hotel room. A hot shower. And a jacket. It was amazing what she appreciated now. She slipped it on and zipped it closed. "Thanks," she said, still smiling.

"You're welcome." He reached out for her hand and she took it, as was their custom now, and together they left the mall.

A short walk later and they found themselves walking down a busy street. They stopped at the first small motel they found and asked about a room.

"One left," said the clerk in very broken English.

"Okay," said Steve, handing over the money.

The woman took the money, producing a room key in exchange. "Goodnight," she said.

They replied in the same and took a set of old stairs up to their room. Steve unlocked the door, saying, "I'm so tired we may just need to book another night."

"I'm so tired I don't care if there's already someone staying here."

Considering the price and the location, the room was actually pretty nice. It was clean, had a big window with a nice view of their area of the city, and a bathroom with a clean, white shower.

"I get the shower first."

"Believe me, I do not have any desire to get in your way."

Steve laid back on a bed and did nothing but simply stare at the wall while Kono was in the restroom. He heard the shower water running for twenty minutes, and was just about to timidly ask if everything was okay when it was shut off. Ten minutes of a hair dryer later and she stepped out of the bathroom.

She looked ten times happier than she had before. Her new jacket was zipped onto her again. She smiled at Steve as she fell onto the other bed. "The water was hot and everything," she said dreamily.

He took his turn next, although he only had the patience to stay in the water for five minutes. What he really wanted was sleep.

He left the bathroom to find Kono sitting up in her bed and reading a brochure for local tourist attractions. "I've always wanted to come here," she said.

"Maybe after we've been home for a while we can come back."

"Yeah, if Danny lets us out of our rooms."

"He may take some convincing. But we'll manage."

"Chin'll want to come too."

"And we'll bring Catherine and Adam along too, of course. At that point Danny won't have any choice but to come." He laid down on the bed and pulled the covers up. He literally could not keep his eyes open anymore. "Night," he said sleepily.

"Night," she said softly, and the light went out a few seconds later.

They were both sound asleep seconds later, just after 8:15.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

Steve threw a water balloon at the man, hitting him square in the chest. It burst open and the man cried out in pain as dust flew out everywhere. He pulled his arm back, ready to throw another of the weapons that kept materializing in his hand out of nowhere, when a sudden pain slammed into him and fought its way down his entire arm. An attack from behind! He spun quickly but no one was there.

"Boss!" Kono shouted. She was suddenly three feet from him but sounded like she was shouting from a mile away. "I've got another grenade!"

She pulled her arm back and threw it further into the hotel room that was empty except for the two of them. It flew to the wall and continued to sail on through.

"Nice one, cuz," came Chin's voice from nowhere.

"Score one for the rookie!" Danny yelled.

Steve spun in all directions, looking for his friends, but saw no one else in the room. He pulled his gun out and aimed it around him. "Who's here?" he demanded angrily while Kono looked on placidly.

"Steve! No guns inside!"

"Catherine?"

"Steve, I miss the ocean," said Kono, as she brushed vent dust off her arms.

There was a slamming noise suddenly at the window and he looked just in time to see a wall of water pound into the glass. "Oh, there it is," Kono said quietly, walking over to the window.

"Kono, we're underwater!"

"So? I've got my jacket."

So she did. But why was it changing colors?

"There could be Yakuza in the room right next to you, and you're asleep," Danny's voice admonished him from nowhere.

"Steve, you've gotta be more careful," said Catherine.

"Brah, just swim home," said Chin. "The ocean's right there."

Suddenly he had an idea. "Kono! That water's gonna get in here and flood the vents, and then what? I've gotta get rid of it."

He threw a water balloon at the window where it burst upon impact and began to stain the entire window a deep black. "Oh, great," Kono whined.

"Hang on, I'll try again," he said, pulling his arm back and feeling the sudden pain again.

"But your hand hurts," Kono argued as the window burst open behind her. Steve's eyes widened as the now black water swallowed her and came straight for his face.

He jerked awake.

It took him a moment to remember where he was. His right arm was over his head and his hand up against the wall where he had obviously smashed it, twice. He slowly unclenched his jaw as he relaxed into the mattress once more.

It was daylight, although still very early. He felt like he had slept for a year and was ready to get up, but decided to stay until Kono was awake so he wouldn't disturb her.

Not five minutes had passed before she too jerked in her sleep and picked her head up, looking confusedly around the room. "Hey," he said quickly. "You okay?"

She looked over at him, squinting, and he was reminded of the time when the two of them and Chin and Danny had been at Danny's house when it started raining and storming so badly that no one felt it safe to drive home. They had all eventually stayed the night, although the guys had stayed up until the very early morning talking and Kono had fallen asleep on the couch. When she had woken up hours later it took her a few seconds to remember where she was, and she had needed twenty minutes before saying even one word.

She squinted harder at him and he tried not to laugh at her. "Hotel, remember?" Something resembling recognition passed through her eyes. She nodded slowly and laid her head back down. "I'm hungry," he said. "You want something to eat?"

She sighed. "Just…that's not now…" Her eyes closed again.

"Okay," he mouthed to himself. He got up from the bed and began to get ready for the day with the intention of going to get them something to eat. He hadn't thought to ask if the hotel had breakfast in the mornings, but he hoped it did. He pulled on his shoes and walked back over to where Kono was asleep again. He sat on the edge of the bed.

"Kono," he said quietly. He didn't want to wake her up, but she'd be rightfully worried if she woke up to find him gone.

She didn't give any indication of having heard him. She hadn't been this much of a heavy sleeper in the past four days. They had been sleeping wherever they found cover, usually one at a time to keep watch. Both had trained themselves to wake up at a tap of the finger from the other.

But today was different. He supposed it was the first time either of them had actually relaxed in days. He shook her arm a little and she slowly took a deep breath.

"What," she mumbled, not opening her eyes.

"I'm going downstairs to see if there's anything to eat. You want something?"

In an instant her eyes flew open and she pushed herself up to sitting. "Wait," she said, putting a hand on his arm. "You can't go down there. Not yet. I'll go with you. Okay? Don't go yet, I'll be ready in a minute." And she jumped out of the bed and quickly began to pull on her shoes.

"Hey, it's okay. You can stay here and rest if you want," he suggested, confused.

"No. Don't leave without me, okay?"

"Kono, I don't think anyone followed us here."

"Yeah, well, we didn't think that in Shanghai either."

Then he remembered: meeting Adam just off the hotel lobby when they had all expected him to be upstairs in their room. He must have come down to get something, just a short little errand, he had probably promised Kono, and before she could blink she was on the run with Steve and hadn't seen Adam since.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean to remind you of that."

"It's fine," she said, quickly pulling on her other shoe.

"Hey, don't rush. I'll wait, just take your time."

"Okay."

She walked to the restroom and shut the door. Steve sat down on the end of the bed and the seemingly endless repetition of thoughts of home trailed its way through his brain once more.

She stepped out of the bathroom a few moments later. "Okay, I'm ready."

He hesitated. "You okay?"

She nodded. "Don't go anywhere without me, okay?" Her voice was slightly strained.

He looked her straight in the eyes. "I won't. I promise." He held out his hand to her and she took it.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

He told her about his dream over breakfast in the small room just off the lobby of the hotel, their backs to the wall. She laughed a little and said, "Oddly, that all makes perfect sense to me."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I dreamed we were running and running and couldn't get anywhere, so we jumped in a hot air balloon and were going to take that all the way home. But the guide was suspicious, so we had to interrogate him. We held him over the side of the basket until he told us that he was taking us to the Yakuza instead of to Hawaii. So when we got over the ocean we landed in it, the whole thing turned into a boat, and we sailed home."

"If we could do it, I'd take it."

"Me too. If only it were all that simple, huh?"

"Right." He focused on his food then, looking up occasionally to the lobby and around the room.

Kono was watching him. She looked at him for a moment, Steve oblivious to the fact that she was doing it, when she said, almost inaudibly, "Hey."

He looked back at her.

She waited a moment, then said, "I need to tell you something."

"Okay."

"Don't argue with me or interrupt or anything, okay?"

He laughed a little. "All right."

"Because I know what you'll say already."

"Okay. I won't. What is it?"

"I'm sorry. I'm just sorry. For everything I've ever done that's made things difficult for you guys."

The expression in his eyes was angry, and he looked as though he wanted nothing more than to respond, but he waited for her to continue. She looked back at him calmly, only a few tears visible in her eyes.

"I shouldn't have ever gotten together with Adam. I mean, I love him, I really do, but it was a mistake. Everything's too dangerous. It isn't worth both our lives."

She looked away at that.

"But if you love him, isn't that worth it?"

Kono waited, staring out into the lobby. She was sitting in a tiny, cramped hotel in a foreign country, with her boss of all people—never mind the fact that they were friends outside of the office—talking about her love life.

"But I love you guys too, and I never should have put you through this."

He had no idea in the world of what to say next. He was sitting in a tiny, cramped hotel in a foreign country, with a subordinate of his of all people—never mind the fact that they were friends outside of the office—talking about her love life.

She spoke next.

"I should have never left."

"When did you, uh—when did you realize that?"

"When I was leaving."

"On the boat?"

"No. Before that."

"What do you mean?" he asked, watching her carefully.

She still wasn't looking at him. "When I was waiting to leave—it was the worst feeling in the world. I felt so alone, even though I wasn't. I felt like I'd be alone without you guys there." She paused.

"I wanted to be with him because I care about him. He's really my best friend, and I mean that. I couldn't let him go without being there to help. But it felt like being torn apart."

He looked down at the table. "Yeah. Yeah, it did," he said, nodding.

She waited, but he said nothing more. She wasn't sure if she understood but she sensed he wouldn't or simply couldn't talk anymore about this particular topic. She turned back to her food but didn't touch it.

After a moment of tense silence he stood up. He leaned over to pick up his mostly uneaten food and said, close to her ear in a whisper, "Just for the record, we could have to do this all over again and you still wouldn't need to apologize to me." He stood up and walked to the door, looking outside while he waited for her to catch up.

After a moment, she stood up, threw the uneaten food away, and joined him to leave.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

**Thanks so much for the reviews! They absolutely make my day. **

**This chapter and the one after it will be a little tame as far as action goes, but will pick up pretty soon. We'll also see what's up with Danny, Chin, and the others very soon as well.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi everyone. So this chapter starts off pretty calm, and then picks up quite a bit to the end. We get a little of all the characters here, so enjoy!**

**Your reviews make me so happy. Thanks once again for leaving them and for reading.**

**-H50-H50-H50-**

"Just for the record, we could have to do this all over again and you still wouldn't need to apologize to me."

**-H50-H50-H50-**

Two days later they found themselves in the European countryside, catching a ride on the back of a truck owned by a man who lived on a small farm nearby. He was taking them to the nearest town where they had deemed it necessary to steal a little money here and there and get themselves another night indoors.

The past forty-eight hours had been filled first with silence from both of them, then had gradually settled into something only slightly resembling their relationship before.

The entire day after leaving the small hotel in St. Petersburg had been filled with uncomfortable silence from Steve, leaving Kono to wonder whether she had said something wrong. But later on, when they had called Chin, he sounded back to normal, and the two even joked back and forth a little before hanging up. Afterwards, he was friendly to her again, if still a little quiet.

Things had improved slowly as they now sat in the back of the truck surrounded by baskets of vegetables, side by side as they watched the world go by around them.

After half an hour into their newest trip, Steve asked her, "Hey, where are we?"

She smiled out at the scene around them. "I have no idea anymore at all."

They watched the scenery around them for a while longer, not saying anything.

"This is all so weird," she said after a while.

"Yeah. It is."

"But fun in a way. Now that we're not about to be killed at every turn."

"I thought you didn't mind when things were dangerous."

"I like to save that for the job."

"Ah, I see."

"Speaking of…"

"What about it?"

"Well, are things going to go back to normal there? I mean, can we just pick up where we left off?"

"You mean where you left off."

She stopped as they both looked at each other. He hadn't seemed angry, and still didn't look it for the most part, except for his eyes which had darkened considerably from what they'd been before.

"Yes," she said slowly. "When I left."

He watched her for a minute longer, then looked away. "Sure," he answered her.

She wanted to slap him. Why was he choosing now to be difficult? Couldn't that wait until they got home, if he ever had to be that way in the first place?

"I said I was sorry."

"I know. I'm not mad."

"Then what the hell are you? Because you've barely said anything to me for two days, and I'm starting to wonder."

"Never mind."

Five minutes of silence went by in which she was frustrated but couldn't think of anything to say while he stared out around them, not paying her any attention. She crossed her arms and found herself thinking of things she could do or say to make him as angry as he made her.

They arrived in a little town soon after, the kind old man who'd given them a ride not accepting any money, but instead wishing them well in halting English. They thanked him three times each and set on their way.

The town was very small, and they were relieved to find a bus station on the other side of it. There was only one bus that came through twice a day, and they had missed the last one an hour ago. The town was a little too small to feel hidden in, but they had no choice but to stay the night.

They found a small hotel that was about the size of a large house back in Hawaii. Without waiting, Kono went up to the front desk and ordered a room for them. After paying she took the key and started up the stairs without waiting for him.

They arrived in the room, which was every bit as beautiful as the village they had found themselves in. Everything was outdated, but kept in great shape and clean.

"Want to go get something to eat?" he asked after a few moments.

"That depends. Are you going to continue being pissed about something, or are you better now?"

He smirked at her. "Better now."

"Good. What were you so upset about?"

"Not upset."

"Can you talk in complete sentences please? Don't prove Danny right about calling you names."

"I'm sorry. From now on I'll speak in perfect English." He turned to the door and smiled at her, though it was only a slight improvement from his smirk, and held out his hand.

She had no idea what was the matter with him, why he was acting the way he was. "Okay," she conceded, shrugging as she took his hand and they left the room.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

Steve did not see the quaint village they had landed themselves in. He did not see the dirt roads and cobblestone streets, little white stone buildings with tiny balconies, fresh flowers on every windowsill, dogs running through the streets with children, the smell of fresh baked bread coming out of shops. His mind was a mess of thoughts tied into an impossible knot, taking the scene around him and distorting it.

He knew he was being a jerk. He tried to make it up over their dinner, sandwiches and tea at a cafe where they sat outside. He commented on the village and the people and tried to be funny. Eventually she warmed up and talked back, occasionally laughing. Their whatever it had been seemed forgotten.

"Do you want to go for a walk, or are you tired?" he asked afterwards.

She looked around them, studying the scene. "Think we're safe?"

"Well, if we aren't, they'll stick out here. We'll see them from a mile away."

"I stick out here too."

"Trust me, no one notices."

"What makes you think they'd notice the Yakuza but not me?"

"You're much prettier than the Yakuza. Trust me, that's all anybody sees." He winked.

"Shut up, McGarrett," she said, but she was smiling. She stood up, saying, "Ready?"

Their walk took them around and through the entire village, which took only half an hour. They sat on a bench in a small park just off a street at the end.

The sun was just barely up still and the streets were quieter. They hadn't said a word since dinner, and that trend seemed to be continuing, although Kono could sense a definite thawing from Steve. Their silence was comfortable now, and she was able to relax.

"We've gotta call the guys soon," she said.

"We'll call them when we get back to the room."

"I will be so happy for a normal, boring day when we get back."

"Yeah. Me too."

He was still sounding a bit odd, but she didn't want to bring it up again. She figured he was tired and frustrated, and that if he were the same tomorrow morning still, she'd have to get in his face about it then.

"It's pretty here," she tried.

"Yeah. It's really nice."

"It would be fun to come back here someday."

"We can come back. If you want."

They sat for a few more minutes watching the day end around them. After a while Kono suggested the call to everybody else so they wouldn't worry.

Once in the room, Steve used the phone to call Chin, as Danny's phone had died the day before.

"Hey," he said happily into the phone. He held it away from his ear and looked at Kono. She sat next to him on the bed so they could both talk and listen.

"How's it going?" Chin asked.

"It's good," said Kono. "We found a nice place to stay, had a good dinner, so we're doing great."

"Aren't you running out of money?"

Steve and Kono exchanged a look, and it felt like the old times once more.

Chin spoke from the other end: "I don't need to see you to see the guilty looks on your faces. What have you been doing?"

Steve and Kono both sighed. "Stealing," they said together. "Only from people who won't look like they'll miss it," Steve added quickly, while Kono said, "And it's only so we can actually sleep indoors and eat."

It was Chin's turn to sigh on the other end of the phone. "All right," he said, defeated. "Be careful."

"We are," said Steve.

"Where are you guys?"

"We're not really sure," Steve said slowly. 'But don't tell Danny."

"But you don't know?" he asked quietly.

"No, but we're safe, and we're going in the right direction," said Kono. "So don't worry about us. What about you?"

"Doris is trying to get a hold of some contacts who can get us on a plane home," he said. "We're hanging out and hiding until they can get back with us."

"I miss you," Kono said to him then.

"I miss you too," said Chin.

Steve listened to the two of them making some jokes about what friends they'd have to meet when they got home, and he realized once again that the two of them hadn't seen each other through this whole ordeal, hadn't seen each other since saying goodbye on the docks, since Chin let her go. Steve wondered if he regretted that decision now.

He also suddenly felt very guilty. He was spending literally every moment of the day with Kono, and no one else had been able to even say hello to her when they had all been at the same hotel. He tried to listen to Kono teasing Chin about his potential new girlfriend and not think those thoughts anymore.

They hung up a few minutes later with their usual goodbyes and promises. They stayed sitting together, not saying anything.

Suddenly Kono leaned over and put her head on Steve's shoulder. Surprised, he stayed very still, not knowing what to say to this. "Uh, are you okay?" he asked after a few seconds.

She nodded. "I hope what you said is still true. About me not needing to apologize to you. Because I'm beginning to really, really feel like I should."

He took her arm and pushed her up to face him. He studied her face, and saw that she looked deeply unhappy and afraid, not at all like she'd just sounded on the phone. He opened his mouth to say something, realized there were no words, and pulled her into a hug that she fell into.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I've been a jerk."

She pulled back and looked at him. "Why, though? What's wrong? I mean, besides the obvious?"

He looked away from her, hands on her arms. "It—I just—it was really hard when you left, that's all." He looked back at her, straight into her eyes. "I didn't think it would be as bad as I thought, but it was. It was worse. And—I just wish it had never happened."

She looked back at him. She knew they must have missed her, because she missed them so much there had been days when she didn't think she could take it. But she had no idea what to say to this sudden admittance of feelings. Especially considering who it was coming from.

"I wish that too," she said, simply because she could think of nothing else.

He nodded, letting go of her arms and looking away. "It's just—I didn't know if you were coming back. I got so used to you being around, and then all of the sudden you were gone. People leave, Kono. All the time. My parents, my sister, friends I've lost. I hate losing people, and I just can't do it anymore."

If she had felt terrible before, it was nothing to how she felt right now.

"I'm sorry for acting this way," he said. "I meant what I said. I'm not mad, and you don't need to apologize. I was just angry at the thought that somebody else might be leaving."

Even though she knew it would probably make him feel worse, she couldn't stop a tear from falling out of her control. She quickly pulled him into another hug so he wouldn't notice.

"I don't want to ever leave again," she said. "I really don't. I won't do it ever again. I promise."

"Good," he said over her shoulder. They pulled back.

"I'm tired, let's go to sleep," she said then, any other words escaping her at the moment.

"Okay," he said, smiling just a little at her.

Twenty minutes later they had both settled into the beds, trying to fall asleep. Kono lie awake for a few moments, staring at the ceiling. Out of nowhere, Steve said, "We'll get home."

**-H50-H50-H50-**

Doris had left as soon as she heard everyone else in the house asleep. She knew that it would be a long shot, getting out of the house with both Danny and Chin asleep in the very room she'd be leaving from, but she was just crazy enough at this point to try it anyway.

So with a packed bag and years of training that suddenly came flooding back, she crept through the darkened living room, past the two sleeping men, and made her way to the door. She had the key to the house and locked it on her way out.

She started down the street, and the cab she had called earlier and offered to pay triple for was waiting. She got in, paid the grumpy driver half up front, and told him where to go.

She sat back in the car, uneasiness flooding her veins like some drug she no longer had control over. Her only son was in danger, and she knew they were closing in on them. They always reported that they were safe, but it was only a matter of time before the Yakuza caught up to them.

Using Chin's phone she had located where they were staying. It would be a four hour trip through the night, but she would arrive by morning and be able to warn them, then join up with them and get them home. She was close to having a contact transport the other three guys back to Hawaii as well, and was less worried about them as they had the financial means to at least move around more than Steve and Kono did.

The cab driver did not speak, but she preferred it that way. She had far too much to think about for small talk, and if she opened her mouth, she'd just start talking about her son anyway.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

The sudden noise came in the middle of the night. Danny and Chin, both sleeping on couches in the living room, were close enough to it that they were woken up right away. But it still hadn't been fast enough. From across the darkened room, Danny saw Chin quickly reach down for his gun on the floor and start to stand up, but it was too late. A man came up behind him and held a gun to the back of his head.

"Hey!" Danny yelled as loud as he could, hoping to wake up Doris and Adam from the rooms. "Chin!"

"Drop it," the man said to him.

Chin sighed and dropped the gun on the couch where it was quickly picked up. Then, just as the man reached down to pick it up, his face connected very hard with Chin's elbow.

Danny wasted no time and turned to a man standing behind him, punching him as hard as he could in the face. The man screamed and fell to the floor, and he shouted, "Adam! Doris! Get the hell out of here!"

But there were other men in the back of the house already. He knew even though he and Chin had managed to get the upper hand on these two that the fight was not over.

The man that Chin had elbowed in the face was suddenly up again. The gun had flown across the room in the struggle, and with the dim light from the lamp Danny had quickly turned on, it could not be found. The man dove on Chin, surprising him from behind, just as another man quickly came up behind Danny and the two were soon engaged in an intense hand to hand fight.

As much as Danny hated to admit it, this man knew what he was doing, and was soon winning the fight. With a final punch to the face, Danny stumbled slightly, and it was all the man needed to pin him to the ground.

Danny looked to the side in a desperate search for help, only to see something even worse about to happen. The man who had been fighting with Chin had recovered the gun, and was just standing up from the floor with it, about to spin and fire. Chin, kneeling on the ground with blood coming from his nose, did not see.

Danny tried to shout, but the man he had been fighting with had one knee on his back, and he absolutely could not make a sound. He watched, helpless, as the man with the gun began to turn to face Chin.

"Chin!" someone yelled suddenly, and both he and Danny looked up quickly to the voice.

Adam stood in the doorway to his room, blood coming from a cut on his face and his shirt torn. Before Danny could communicate to him to help, before he could even think of the words to say, Adam was running swiftly at the man with the gun. In one quick movement that immensely reminded him of Steve, he tackled the man to the ground, the gun skidding across the floor once more.

Danny felt a slight release of pressure from his back at that moment, and wasted no time in flipping over and kicking the man hard in the chest. He fell backwards, completely caught off guard. As both Danny and Chin approached him, he began to say, "No! No! I'm sorry! Stop! Please!"

Danny ignored him and pulled him up by his shirt collar, punching him hard across the face once more, while Adam punched the man he had tackled as well.

Two other men ran from the back of the house, shouting. "Where's the other?" they yelled, pointing guns at the group.

Danny, Chin, and Adam all backed away, hands raised. But before any of the four men had a chance to think about what to do next, Chin once again sprang into action and pushed the gun the nearest man was holding into his face. In the distraction Danny and Adam ducked while shots were fired over their heads from the man still holding a gun.

Danny took the chance and dove at the man's legs while he took another shot at Adam. He hit the floor loudly and the gun went off, although the shot sailed past Danny and hit the ceiling.

In the chaos, two of the men managed to run for the door. They swung it open and took off, not looking back or giving a thought to the two men they were leaving behind. Danny, Chin, and Adam chose to take out their frustration on the two that were left.

Not one minute later, the two remaining Yakuza members were on the floor, in various states of injury. The one Adam had tackled had tried to make a feeble run for it, and Adam had pulled him back, punching him once again in the face.

Seeing everything under control, Chin quickly ran back to the bedrooms. "She's gone!" he yelled, running back into the room. "You!" he yelled, coming up to the man Danny had on the floor. "Where did they take her? Huh? Where?"

The man looked terrified. "I don't know! I don't know, I swear!"

Chin punched him hard in the face. "Where did they take her?"

"What the hell is going on?" Adam demanded of the man he had tackled. He did not answer, grimacing as he expected another punch to land on his face soon.

"All right, everybody listen!" Danny yelled. "Get those guys here together. Adam, get that gun. We're gonna get some answers out of these bastards."

**-H50-H50-H50-**

They had picked the man who had begged for mercy, as he seemed the most likely to speak. Chin and Adam each took one of his feet and dangled him upside down while Danny questioned him. He was silent at first, but when his face first turned red and then began to take on a nasty purple shade, he was suddenly full of information. His comrade watched sullenly nearby.

"We were gonna kidnap you and the woman," he cried as he motioned to Adam. "To find—to find McGarrett and Kalakaua."

"Why?" Danny demanded.

"To k—to kill them!"

"So what was your plan exactly? Get Doris and Adam and use them as bait for the other two?"

"Yes! To kill—all of them. Please, please let me down!"

"Now wait, just hold on a minute. You were gonna kill Adam Noshimuri, is that right?"

"Yes!"

"For what?"

"For killing—Michael."

"Oh, for revenge. I see. And you were going to kill Doris McGarrett?"

"Yes. For—for helping them escape."

"So where did you take her?"

"She wasn't there! She wasn't there, I swear!"

"No forced entry in her room," Chin said. "And nobody was here before they arrived."

"So what, she left on her own?" Danny demanded.

"I don't know. But these guys didn't do anything. We'd know if they were involved."

"Okay. Okay." He turned back to the man, who was looking at him, terrified, from upside down. "What was your reason for wanting to kill McGarrett and Kalakaua?"

"McGarrett—long time enemy of ours—and he helped her escape—in Shanghai."

"And Kono?"

"She—" The man looked even more nervous, knowing who was currently suspending his head a foot from the floor. "She got in the way—changed Adam—got Michael killed—and she ran—we had orders—"

"Wow, Kono's been busy, huh?" Danny asked as calmly as he could. "Now, I think I know the answer to this, but what were you planning to do with me and him? Huh?" He motioned to Chin.

The man looked like he was ready to break. "Kill you," he said, almost apologetically.

Danny glared at him, one of the many reasons they were all running. "Drop him," he said, and neither Chin nor Adam wasted a second before doing just that.

"You," Danny said, turning to the man who had yet to say anything. "Where did your friends go, huh?"

He shrugged nervously, eyeing his nonmoving companion on the floor. "To wherever they are."

"They? You mean McGarrett and Kalakaua?"

"Yeah."

"So where are they?"

"I don't know, I swear. They said they'd track them."

"Track them?" asked Chin. "How?"

The man sighed. "From them calling you."

Danny and Adam looked at him confusedly, but Chin's eyes widened slightly. He rushed over to the couch he had been sleeping on and quickly rifled through his various items scattered on the side table. "My phone's gone," he said, upending couch cushions as he tried to prove his statement wrong.

Danny quickly searched over his items as well. "Mine too," he said, angrily throwing a cushion across the room.

"What do we do with these two?" Adam asked.

Chin studied their faces. "I've got something very special planned for these guys."

**-H50-H50-H50-**

**I know the Steve/Kono parts sound like I'm pushing a romantic angle between the two, but it isn't that way. I like to write them as very close friends, closer than they are in the show, so that's all it is. **

**As for the next chapter, things really, really pick up, and I'll try to update soon!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A little violent here, so be prepared. Also, I'm no doctor, so if my medical/injury descriptions are wrong, just go with it. **

Steve and Kono were up and dressed, just discussing possible plans for the day, when it happened. The ringing phone startled them both slightly, as there were very few people in the world who would intentionally be calling them at this time and place.

They exchanged a glance and Steve walked to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?" he said cautiously. Kono came to listen.

"McGarrett," said an unfamiliar voice. Steve looked at Kono while her eyes widened at him.

"Wrong number," he tried.

"Ah, I don't believe it is. Is Officer Kalakaua there with you?"

"I don't know who that is. Sorry, dude."

"Hang up this phone and we kill everyone we see on our way up to your room."

They exchanged a glance again. "What do you want?" Steve asked, and Kono could hear the barely masked fury in his voice.

"We want the both of you to come out quietly and get into the black SUV parked just outside the building. We don't want to hurt you at this point. No weapons."

They hesitated. Kono's eyes widened more as she looked fearfully at Steve. He could see tears starting to form.

He sighed. "Okay," he said. He hung up the phone without waiting for a response.

He didn't look at her right away. He couldn't think of anything to say. After everything, they had found them.

But she spoke first anyway. "Steve," she said, her voice shaking slightly. "We have to go. They might kill innocent people if we don't."

He put a hand on her shoulder. "We're gonna be okay," he said. "I promise."

She heard the weight he put on those two words, and nodded. A strange confidence was shared between them at that moment. After everything that had happened, all they had been through, this was just one more thing. Just one more step left to take.

He held out his hand to her and she took it.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

Steve wordlessly set their room key down on the sparkling clean desk in the front of the lobby, and this was what did Kono in completely. They were more than likely headed to slow and painful deaths, all for saving the people around them who had nothing to do with their problems—and he had thought to bring the key down and return it. They way he set it down so gently, so carefully, ever the good and beautiful person that he was, ever the one to do the right thing, no matter how small—and she squeezed his hand as tight as she could while turning into his arm and beginning to sob.

The sheer stress of the last six weeks finally caught up to her, and after all that time of not breaking, she simply couldn't resist anymore.

He walked outside with her, pulling her along with him to the black SUV that was parked right outside of the building, just as they had said. An Asian man was waiting by an open back door and he motioned them inside with no change of facial expression, no care or sympathy or even triumph given at their predicament.

Steve climbed into the middle row of seats first and sat next to a man who held a gun on him. Kono sat down on his other side, squeezing his arm with both of hers, as the door was shut roughly.

Two men sat in the front of the car, and another three in the row of seats behind them. Steve sat up perfectly straight, eyes staring straight ahead of them as they slowly moved out of the village and into the middle of nowhere along a dirt road. After a moment he pulled free of her arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, never once taking his eyes off of where they were going. She leaned heavily into him and closed her eyes, tears silently streaming down her face.

After ten minutes the car came to a slow stop. The two men in the front of the car got out and one opened the back door for Steve and Kono. "Out, out," he said, waving his hand impatiently at them.

They exited the car followed by the four other armed men, and saw that they had been brought to a house that looked fairly well kept, but was as isolated as they currently felt. "Get inside," said another of the men, pushing them forward through the front door.

The house was furnished and clean, and Steve found himself hoping wildly that the owner would arrive and call the police, or even just cause enough of a distraction to alert the Yakuza members that they were not as alone as they believed.

The six men pushed them into the center of the living room and surrounded them while Steve and Kono held hands tightly. "Listen," Steve said. "For your own good—if you kill us, our friends are going to come after you. They will hunt you down, I promise. Now all we want to do is get home. If you let us go, let us go home—we won't come after you."

The men exchanged looks and smirked. They had all recognized the lie, and weren't about to even entertain the possibility that they believed him. They started to circle tighter, like wild animals surrounding prey that they knew couldn't escape.

"Okay then, at least let her go," Steve said, raising his voice. "She didn't kill Michael Noshimuri, and I've been the one tracking down your people these past few weeks. At least let her go."

"Steve, stop," she said firmly, although it barely masked her terror. "I'm not leaving."

"No, you're not," said one of the men. "Not until you tell us where Adam Noshimuri is."

Her mouth fell open slightly. "I—I don't know," she said, with such truthfulness that the men once again exchanged glances, this time with slightly raised eyebrows.

"Of course you don't," said the man. He smiled. "That's okay. I'm patient. I don't mind.

"Now I'm going to ask you one more time, and that will be the final time. Understand? Where can we find Adam Noshimuri?"

Kono looked back at the man, and Steve stared at her face, trying to comprehend the emotions coming off of her, trying to understand what she was silently throwing back at the man who would, in all likelihood, turn out to be her murderer. There was fear on her face, of course, but something else that was now in front of that. As she continued to stare defiantly back, he realized what it was: pure, white hot fury. He knew that no matter what, she would put Adam's life in front of hers and never back down. She was telling this man and everyone else in the room that the very last thing she'd ever do was talk.

"Not going to tell us, hmm?" he asked. "All right. I really didn't want it to come to this, but you've left me with no other option." He drew a gun from his waistband.

"All right, just hold on—" Steve started.

"I gave her a chance," he said, as the five other men came up and grabbed Steve and Kono by the arms. "And she didn't take it. Now, she'll pay." And Steve watched in horror as he pulled the gun up and aimed it at her stomach.

The shot ripped through the air, mixing with Steve's cry of "No!" But he didn't need to shout, and Kono didn't need to attempt as much of a twist as she currently was in to give one last attempt to save her own life, because the man who had aimed the gun at her was currently falling to the side, blood pouring from his mouth as he dropped the gun. With one last look up at the people in the room, he fell to the floor where he lay motionless.

Everyone in the room turned to look at the doorway. Steve's first thought had been Danny. Then the local police. But nothing could have prepared him for seeing his mother standing in the doorway, gun in hand.

And nothing could have prepared him for what happened next either.

She turned slightly to her side and before any of the men could pull their own guns out, she took aim and fired at one of the men who were holding Steve's arms. He flinched as the bullet missed him by six inches and landed right in the heart of the man, who was thrown backwards by the impact.

He wasted no time, spinning and punching the other man who had held him as hard as he had since finding Victor Hesse the day he'd tried to kill Chin.

But it wasn't enough. The two men who had Kono had acted faster, both pulling out guns and backing away with her. One held his gun on Steve while the other pointed his at her head. Steve lunged for the gun dropped on the ground by the first man to die, but the man he had punched dived on it and managed to pivot to face him with it a second too late for him to react.

"Drop it, drop it," one of the men holding Kono ordered. The third man pointed his gun at Doris.

"Listen to me, just let her go," said Steve.

"Back off, get back!" one of the men ordered. "Tell her to drop the gun," said the other.

"Like hell," said Doris, and Steve could heard the contempt in her voice as clear as the voices in the room.

"We'll shoot her," said the man who was holding the gun to Kono's head. "And not to kill, either."

Steve considered their options. They couldn't give up any kind of an advantage, but the last thing he wanted was for Kono to get hurt. He ultimately decided that they had gotten lucky once, and could only hope it would happen again.

"Mom, drop it."

"Steve, these men will kill us. I'm going to kill them before they get the chance."

"Are Danny and Chin here?" he asked in a whisper out of the corner of his mouth.

She shook her head ever so slightly to indicate no.

"Then drop it," he said.

She gave him a hard stare before lowering the weapon and setting it on the ground.

'Kick it over here," said one of the men.

She kicked it way too hard over to them where it loudly hit the wall.

Surprised, Steve saw the men who had Kono abruptly push her forward and away from them. She quickly moved over to Steve and Doris who each grabbed one of her hands, but their group wasn't left undisturbed for very long.

One of the men with a gun walked up to them and roughly grabbed Doris by the arm. "Mom!" Steve cried out. The man pushed her into the middle of the room. "Where is he?" he demanded.

"I don't know."

"You're lying!" And he pulled back an arm and roughly hit her in the face.

"Mom!" screamed Steve as Kono yelled "Doris!"

But they were held back by the other men training their guns on them and by Doris' hand. "I put them on a train to Paris," she said. "They're probably already on a plane back to Hawaii. You're too late." And she met the man with such a steely gaze in her eyes that he seemed to question his stance.

Angrily, he pushed her back to Steve and Kono. "You," he said to Steve. Two men came and pushed him forward this time.

"No—" Kono started to say. The two men held onto her arms as a third held Doris.

"One chance," the man who had questioned Doris said. "Where are your friends?"

"I'll tell you if you let them leave," Steve responded.

The man smiled, but his barely held fury was visible beneath the surface. The blood from the man Doris killed pooled at his feet. "Oh, I think you'll tell me anyway."

One of the men holding Kono came up to them then, while the one remaining tightened his hold on her arms. The man said to Steve, "Where are they."

"Go to hell."

The attack came too quickly for any of them to see or stop. The man that had left Kono abruptly brought his gun crashing down on the back of Steve's head at the same moment that the man questioning him punched him hard in the stomach. The screams of Kono and Doris filled the room, and for a moment, was all Steve could hear.

Then the other sounds came back to him. "Where is he?" followed by the sound of one punch, then another, then what felt like a kick. "Tell us where he is, McGarrett!"

Kono didn't care that the men had guns, and by the sound of her, neither did Doris. "Stop!" they both screamed over and over, fighting against the men who were holding them back. The man holding Kono had finally had enough, and when her knee found the ground in her attempts to get away, he brought his foot hard down onto her calf and held it there.

Steve took the punches and kicks, never fighting to get away. If he told them where Adam was, he, and possibly Chin and Danny, were dead. He could always lie, but they'd find out eventually anyway. If he fought back, they might go after Kono or his mother instead. So, he reasoned, if he stayed quiet and didn't put up a fight, all the attention was on him, and no one else would be hurt.

After a few more minutes, exhausted, the two men stopped their assault and stepped back, out of breath. One looked at him, considering. He looked up at the other man and shook his head.

"I got an idea," the other man said.

They pulled a bloodied Steve to his feet and shoved him away. He stumbled over to Kono and Doris, ignoring the guns being pointed at him "'M okay," he mumbled in response to their horrified expressions. But before Kono could ask him if he was sure, if he really was going to be all right, she was roughly pushed forward herself into the center of the room.

Before Steve or Doris could protest; before the man made any attempt to question her again; before she even had time to duck to spare herself a piece of the pain that was headed her way, a gun was swung into her face and she heard something very much not right occur as it made contact with the side of her head.

Immediately dizzy, she swayed on the spot, her now ringing ears hearing a mix of screams and the sound of her own blood beginning to pound in her head and run out of her open wound.

She realized a second after it happened that she had landed on the floor on her left side, and had just put a hand down to attempt to push herself back up when her hair was grabbed and she was brought up to a sitting position.

The yells still continued around her. She tried to listen, tried to look, but her vision was blurry, the sounds melted into streams of notes that blended right in and out of the air around her, and at that moment, she was more aware of the now-dry tear tracks on her face than anything else in the world.

She tried to focus, but could not remember where she was or why she was there. She felt another sudden pain in her face, although not as bad as the first. She curled onto her side on the floor after something that looked like a shoe came crashing into her side.

All the while the screaming continued.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

Steve had never felt such blind fury in his life. If only he could get away from these men holding him; if only he could break free of them and get to the man who had hit Kono, then surely, _surely_, he would be able to rip his head right off. He would beat him until he was flat on the ground, recognizable as a human being no more. He would rip off and break every limb on his body.

Yet he couldn't get away. His head hurt, he was dizzy, and the men holding him were doing so for all they were worth. They were younger and they were strong, and seemed to sense that if they lost control of him right now, it was all over. So they held tighter as the assault continued.

"Stop! Stop!" Doris screamed as Kono took another kick to the stomach, and then another. "Tell me where he is!" the man countered, looking back at them.

"I'll kill you!" Steve screamed. 'I'll kill you, you son of a bitch!"

In response, he reached down and punched her in the face again. Blood began to pour slowly from her new wound.

"Stop it! Let her go! She doesn't know!"

"I swear to God I'll kill you!"

The dizziness was leaving him. A new kind of clarity was overtaking his mind. All at once, he saw everything that had ever happened in his life, every question he had ever had, ever doubt and every moment of confusion all line up together in perfect order. Everything in the world all came to this one moment, and his impulse to save Kono was at the end of it all.

Doris kicked back at the man holding her and managed to hit him hard in the shins. "Ow!" he yelled. "Hey—hit her again!"

The man standing over Kono obliged him, kicking her hard in the chest.

Through his mother's screams, Steve felt something white hot burning into his own chest. A plan suddenly seemed to be forming from nowhere out of the depths of his panicked and furious mind.

He saw one of his best friends in the world, lying on the floor, barely conscious, eyes half open and dazed, blood running over her face, curled up and holding her stomach as she lay on the floor, unable to fight back anymore. And he knew what to do.

He twisted quickly to the left, pulling his arm up with him and enough out of the one man's grip to gain control of it again. In the same fluid motion, before anyone had time to react, he bent his arm and threw it backwards at the man's face, catching him square in the nose.

Still pivoting from the elbow strike, he pulled his left arm around in a fist and felt a satisfying crunch as it made contact with the other man's face. He kicked backwards at the man whose nose he had hit, coming into contact with his nose once again, and he fell backwards to the floor, not to get up again.

He reached forward and in one fluid movement, ripped the gun from the man he had punched and swung around, firing off one perfect shot that embedded itself deep in the chest of the man who had been going after Kono. He fell backwards in shock where he slumped against a wall, his own gun dropped to the floor.

Meanwhile, Doris wasted no time as, in his distracted state, the man holding her loosened his grip and she pivoted, slamming her fingers into his eyes and scratching hard. He howled in pain as she jumped back and away from him, Steve firing another two shots that put an permanent end to his cries.

He turned again to the man he had taken the gun from, who was now making a bolt for the door. Steve believed in giving people a chance. He believed in fair play. He was not one to win a fight unless it was fair.

But this stopped being fair the minute they had hurt his family. He fired off three quick shots that hit the man in the back, and watched as he crashed into the door he had been so desperately trying to reach, leaving a trail of blood streaking along it as he slowly slumped to the floor.

In his blinded outrage, he turned to the man who's nose he had effectively broken and fired off a single shot, hitting him in the face, disfiguring him beyond any recognition. As the sound of the gunshot echo died off in the now silent house, he dropped the gun as he and his mother ran to Kono.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

It was bad. Much worse than he had dared think it might be. He felt his own comparatively mild wounds and wished desperately that he could switch with her.

"Kono!" he half yelled, holding her face as much as he dared, not wanting to make anything worse. Her eyes rolled back and forth, unable to focus. Her breathing was short and came sharp with each breath.

"Kono, can you hear me?" Doris asked her, grabbing her hand.

It didn't appear that she could.

"Steve, bring her in the bathroom," Doris said suddenly, standing up.

With all the attention he could put towards the matter, Steve carefully picked Kono up off the floor. She weighed nearly nothing, but was so badly hurt that he felt like he was making everything worse just by interfering. Still, his horror at the situation pushed aside every thought in his head except for the simple command given him by his mother. And so, he brought her into the bathroom.

Doris was already inside, pulling towels out of a cabinet and getting one wet with warm water. Steve carefully placed Kono on the counter and helped her lean back against the mirror. As he leaned back and looked at her face, he was relieved to see she at least looked somewhat more alert. Then, that relief left him as she slowly leaned over to the sink and began to cough up blood.

He watched, horrified, as he held her arms so she wouldn't fall over. "Mom," he began, more terrified than he'd ever been in his life.

Doris, looking at though she were fighting back tears, held Kono's hair out of her face. She looked down at the blood in the sink. "All right," she said quietly. "Steve, go and find the keys to the car they brought you here in. We're taking her to the hospital."

"Okay," he said readily, but just as he was about to turn to leave the room, the slightest touch in the world came into contact with his shoulder.

He looked to see Kono and the one hand she had reached out to stop him. "No," she mouthed, still leaning over the sink, as she coughed once more, adding to the blood dripping down the drain.

Steve held onto her arm and said, "Kono, we're going to the hospital. It's gonna be okay."

"No," she mouthed again, more insistently.

Steve didn't know what to say. He looked upward, as though searching for the answer, and said, "Kono, listen. It's bad, okay? I'm so sorry. But you're gonna be okay if we get you to the hospital."

She seemed about to try to say something else when she leaned over the sink again and Steve and Doris watched, horrified, as she coughed up even more blood.

Steve had a sudden realization. "Okay, sit back, sit back," he said, helping to gently lean her back against the mirror. She did so with her eyes closed, face streaked with blood and bruises.

A part of him almost didn't want to know, didn't want to have to face it. But he knew that he owed it to her to do everything he could to save her life.

He gently pulled up her jacket and shirt enough to see her stomach that was covered with dark, blackened bruises.

Neither he nor his mother needed to verbally confirm what they both already knew. The coughing up blood, the shortness of breath—they were most likely looking at internal bleeding.

Kono suddenly moaned, leaning forward on the counter. Steve wrapped his arms around her as tightly as was needed to keep her from falling. "Shh, it's okay, it's okay," he said desperately. He knew the hospital wasn't an option. He knew none of it was an option anymore, except for staying right where they all were and hoping that she could somehow find the reserves of strength that would help her survive.

A louder moan of pain escaped. The blood on her face was leaving imprints on his shirt. Doris' eyes filled with tears as she repeatedly smoothed Kono's hair out of her face.

"No, no, no," Steve mumbled, eyes wide. His heart hurt inside of his chest. How desperately he wanted to trade places with her. How could he tell Chin he had let his cousin die? How could he let his best friend just die in his arms, in a house she was kidnapped and brought to? She couldn't die in this way. Not her. Not the surfer and the cop and the one who lived in Oahu and had had such a peaceful and wonderful life up until so very recently.

She moaned again, but it was fainter. He felt her leaning against him fully now. He wrapped his arms around her tighter, tears now falling freely from his face. "No, Kono, please, please don't die, please stay with me. Stay with me, okay? Stay with me. You've gotta stay here. You're gonna go home, okay? You're gonna see Chin. Please stay with me. Please just stay here, I promise it'll be okay, I'll fix everything, okay? Please stay, please stay, please stay."

Doris leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. "It's all okay now, sweetheart. It's getting better, okay? I think it's getting better. You're gonna be fine." And she leaned over to wrap her arms around both Steve and Kono.

Steve wasn't sure how long they stayed that way, how long he attached his attentions only on the sound and feel of Kono breathing. At first, he just waited to hear it continue. When that was confirmed enough to him, he started to listen to see if it was slowing or becoming too hard for her. It wasn't. After what could have been either five minutes or five hours, he felt himself relax ever so slightly since the night before—_only the night before_—at dinner.

"Mom," he said quietly over Kono's shoulder. Kono appeared to be asleep.

She looked up at him. "What do we do?" he mouthed.

"I don't know," she mouthed back. She waited, considering, then said, "We need to check her."

Very carefully, Steve slowly brought up a hand to Kono's face. She woke up and moaned in pain once again. Steve felt his heart breaking for her. "I know, I'm sorry," he said. "We've gotta check and see what's wrong. Okay?"

Through half-closed eyes due to all of her bruises, he saw agreement. He carefully leaned her back against the mirror once more.

He lifted her jacket and shirt again to study the bruising. He allowed himself to believe it was ever so slightly better, even if it was still overwhelmingly frightening and serious. He willed himself not to look at the blood in the sink.

"Better," he told her, trying to smile. She nodded ever so slightly while Doris held her hand.

"Okay," he said, lowering her shirt. "Where does it hurt the worst?"

Kono closed her eyes and slowly reached an unsteady hand up to her stomach.

"Yeah, I know," he said softly, running a few fingers gently through her hair. Then, "How bad does that hurt? Is it getting any better?"

"Better," she said almost inaudibly. "A little."

"Okay, good," he said. "What else hurts the worst?"

She lifted her hand and let it touch her stomach again.

"Yeah, I know. But that's gonna be okay. Where else?"

"No," she mouthed, slightly shaking her head. It took her extreme effort to reach up to her chest and pat her heart.

He swallowed, not ready to deal with anything else that might be about to kill her. But she needed him. "Gonna look," he said, pulling her shirt down slightly.

It wasn't as bad as he thought. The bruising wasn't over her heart, but up further next to her collar bone. A broken collar bone they could deal with.

"I'm going to listen to your heartbeat," said Doris, and she put her head up to Kono's chest.

Steve waited for a tense minute that felt like a day while his mother listened. After she was done, she straightened back up. "Sounds normal," she said to him. "A little elevated, but the beating sounds normal."

"No bleeding?" he asked silently.

She shook her head. "I don't think so," she responded, only barely speaking.

Steve looked back at Kono. "Okay, where else sweetheart?"

She moaned slightly. "Face," she barely was able to say.

Face indeed. He had never seen anyone take such a beating to the face and still be able to speak relatively soon afterwards. He was at once intensely relieved he had been able to kill the man who did this to her.

He sighed. "Kono, we need to find a hospital, okay? We can't do anything here."

But she was already shaking her head. "No, no," she whispered, eyes closing.

"Sweetie, why?" asked Doris.

"Those guys," she said weakly, opening her eyes slightly. "They'll come—look at hospitals—find us and—kill you—"

Steve couldn't take this anymore. "Listen, they can try, all right? I'm sick of this. I'll kill any one of them that gets to within a mile of us anymore. They aren't going to hurt us anymore, all right? And you need a hospital."

She was shaking her head again. "Won't," she began, "risk, your, lives, too."

He sighed at her, marveling at how stubborn she was. He looked to his mother. She looked like she was bracing herself. "I agree," she said, and Steve's mouth dropped open. "If she's going to be okay—we've gotta just keep going. We'll get to a bigger city, find a hotel, wait until she's well enough to travel. I'll contact Danny and Chin and have them meet us so we'll have more protection. But she's right. We're sitting ducks in a hospital right now."

Steve turned, frustrated, and threw his hands up in the air. After a minute he turned back to Kono and his mother, both of whom were watching him. "Fine," he said, picking up a towel and running it under warm water. "Fine," he said again, gently touching it to Kono's face, where she reflexively pulled away. "But I'm getting you fixed up first, okay? You will let me help you."

She conceded, relaxing as best she could up against the mirror while Steve and Doris carefully took their time in doctoring her wounds as best as they could, first wiping away the blood, then applying antiseptic and band aides from a small first aid kit they found.

"What about here?" asked Steve, lightly putting two fingers to her collar bone.

"Hurts bad," she said, closing her eyes. "Steve, it hurts so bad."

"Okay, okay, it's all right." Together, he and his mother made a sling out of a large towel and clipped it together, taking some of the weight off of the injury, which Steve was sure was broken. He lightly squeezed her hand when they were finished.

"Okay, where else hurts?" he asked softly.

"Everywhere," she said almost silently.

He pulled up her jacket and shirt once again to look at her bruising. It was slightly better from the last time he had checked, but still alarmingly, horrifically wrong. "Better," he told her, smiling as best he could. He leaned forward and gave her a careful kiss on the forehead, at once more grateful than he'd ever been in his life that she was still alive, still there to argue with him.

After a few more moments, after studying her swollen face covered with bruises and cuts, they decided it was time to leave. Doris found the keys to the black van in the pocket of one of the men, and Steve carefully picked Kono up and carried her outside to the car.

Once the two of them were settled into the backseat, Doris started the car and began to drive back to the small village to find a main road. Kono lay on her back, her head on Steve's leg. He held one of her hands tightly with his while keeping the other pressed gently to the side of her bruised and beaten face.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

**Reviews are awesome! Please leave one if you can, and thanks for reading. More to come soon.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Firstly, sorry for not updating for a few days when I originally said I would more often. Life is incredibly busy, and I'm only just able to post this. However, this concludes the story, so it's all here now.**

**Thanks to everyone who leaves reviews. They make me so happy. I'm literally grinning like an idiot at my computer when I read them, so thank you so much.**

**Enjoy the last chapter!**

**-H50-H50-H50-**

Doris had driven them two hours to just outside the next major city, where she had rented a car. How she had done so without a license, in a foreign country, was something Steve wanted to ask yet also desperately didn't want to know. He simply settled into the backseat with Kono, swallowing his questions as he tried to make her as comfortable as possible.

Thirty minutes later they arrived outside of a very large hotel in the middle of the city. Doris parked the car around the side of the building in a smaller lot and left to get them rooms.

Steve was sitting in the backseat, Kono's head in his lap, as they had been for the past few hours when in a car. He kept a constant watch around them, more than ready to use the two new guns he had with him, when a small voice pulled him from his thoughts.

"Steve?"

He looked down. Kono was looking at him through her injuries, through eyes half swollen shut that she could barely see out of. They had stopped to buy pain killers for her and had let her have nearly a quarter of the bottle, so he knew she couldn't be in quite as bad of pain as before.

"Hey. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. What are we doing?" He read her lips more than he heard her speak.

"Checking into a hotel. It's really big, and we've got weapons again. We're gonna rest here for a few days, try and get Danny and Chin to get here."

She smiled as much as she could through her split lip. "I wanna see Chin," she said, sounding just slightly delirious. "And Adam," she said, her grin widening just slightly before it hurt too much. "Danny," she sighed. "Him too."

He smiled back at her. "I know. Hopefully that'll be soon."

Ten minutes later the side door of the building was opened, and as instructed, Steve was ready to quickly carry Kono over to it. They had decided she was far too injured to go in through the front door, so Doris had gotten two rooms with the plan to sneak her in from the side.

They entered the building and Doris led them up eight flights of stairs. Once they reached their floor, she carefully peeked out into the hallway and said, "Okay," and Steve quickly carried Kono over to one of the rooms, which Doris quickly unlocked.

He carefully placed her on one of the beds in the room. "Is that okay?" he asked. She nodded, eyes closing.

"Need anything. Water? More pills?" A slight shake of the head.

"Just need to sleep?" Another nod.

"Okay."

Doris called Adam using Chin's phone. He listened as she began to explain what happened, but had to stop when the yelling from the other end became too much. He heard voices on the other end, and then she appeared to be talking to someone else.

"Hold on," she said after a moment. She put the phone on speaker.

"Steve!" Danny half-shouted. "What happened? They found you and Kono got hurt?"

"Steve, is she all right?" came Chin's voice, quieter but just as frantic.

"She's gonna be okay," he said.

"But she's hurt?" Adam asked fearfully.

He hated having to tell them this, but knew it was the right thing to do, and that they needed help. "Yeah," he admitted.

Frantic questions of "How bad?" "Can I talk to her?" and "Does she need a doctor?" met him all at once.

"She's asleep," he said, answering Adam's question first. "And I think she needs to do that for a while. We got her some pills for pain."

"Steve, how bad is it?" came Chin's voice again.

He sighed. "They beat her up pretty bad," he admitted. "I'm sorry, there were so many of them and they had guns on us. I tried to stop them, I swear."

"They got Steve too," Doris said, knowing he was blaming himself.

"Are you all right?" asked Danny.

"Yeah," he said, realizing he hadn't given a second thought to his own injuries since they had started to attack Kono. "I'm fine."

"Doris, are you hurt?" asked Chin.

"Just a black eye," she said. "Nothing at all."

"What's wrong with Kono?" asked Adam.

"She got beat up pretty bad, I'm not really sure," Steve lied. He couldn't tell them about her probably broken collarbone, her almost unrecognizable face, or just how much blood she had left in that sink. "But she's gonna be okay. She's getting better."

Adam swore from the background. Chin sighed. "Please take care of her until we get there."

"I will."

"Where are you guys?"

Doris quickly relayed the city they were in and the hotel they were checked into while Steve went to go check on Kono. She was sleeping, and didn't appear to be in any pain. Which was a miracle, considering her injuries. He made a mental note that she could have more pills in a few hours.

A moment later, Doris hung up the phone. "They'll be here late this evening," she said. He nodded.

"Not your fault," she said, sitting down next to him and Kono, putting a hand over his, reading his mind.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

Danny, Chin, and Adam had arrived just as they said they would. They all practically had a shoving match to get in the door first. Steve motioned for them to be quiet, feeling such relief at seeing them yet dreading what they were about to see.

Adam's hands went up to cover his mouth as he looked at the sleeping Kono. Chin put a hand over his eyes, and the two of them sat down on either side of her. "Oh, man," said Danny quietly, looking deeply hurt.

"She's gonna be okay," Steve said. "She woke up a while ago and was talking."

He was so busy watching the two of them that he was completely caught by surprise when Danny suddenly stepped in front of him and gave him a huge hug.

A little shocked, he hugged him back. When Danny let go, he said, "How are you? You all right?"

"Yeah, I'm all right. How about you guys?"

"We're better now. We can go home."

"I've almost got a plane for us," said Doris.

Chin turned from the bed and smiled slightly. "Actually, we've already got tickets out of here."

Steve and Doris looked back and forth between him and Danny. "What?" they both asked together.

"We're done with the Yakuza," Danny said simply.

"Done?" Steve repeated.

"Yeah," said Danny. "Doris, the night you left, four Yakuza members broke into the house we were staying at. Two got away, but two didn't—" He exchanged a look with Chin "—and we got some good information from them about where the rest of their buddies were hanging out."

"How'd you do that?" Steve asked, looking in awe at his friends.

A sudden mental image of the two captured Yakuza members confessing their hearts out came to Chin. Even Danny, who normally disapproved of Steve-esque methods of interrogation, hadn't been able to hide his satisfaction of watching the men screaming and pleading for a chance in exchange for all they knew of their comrades.

_"No! Oh, God, no! Please!"_

_"Look pal, this can take all night, or it can be done right now. Your choice." Danny pretended to casually study his fingernails in the moonlight._

_"If it isn't done right now, it may not take all night," said Chin. "Sharks are common in these waters, no?"_

_"You can't do this!"_

_"And you can't kill innocent people!" yelled Adam, grabbing the front of the man's shirt, careful to avoid the raw meat that was tied to his waist. "Tell us where the rest of you are hiding, and I won't punch you off this boat."_

_Even under the threat, both men still looked hesitant._

_"You know," said Chin. "It's only gonna take one of these guys to tell us where the rest of them are."_

_One quick exchanged look between the Yakuza members, and neither could be stopped from their confession as each attempted to scream over the other._

"Let's just say we took a page out of your book," said Chin, smiling at him.

"Is that blood on your shirt?" Doris asked Danny.

"Oh this? Don't worry, it's not mine." Chin and Adam smirked behind him.

"So what happened?" asked Doris.

"Well, after we realized where all these guys were hiding, we called the governor," said Danny. "We knew we couldn't expect a rescue mission, but he got in contact with several European task forces that have had problems with them as well. In short, they ambushed them, and as of this afternoon, fifty-two arrests were made."

Steve gaped at him. "Fifty-two?" he repeated.

Danny nodded at him proudly. "They're not after us anymore," he said. "We're all free to go home."

**H50-H50-H50-**

They had immediately checked Kono into a hospital, where they were told that with a few weeks' rest she would be just fine, and were scolded to within an inch of their lives for not bringing her in sooner. She had stayed for three days, with Adam, Chin, Steve, Danny, and Doris making sure at least one of them was always with her, even though it was more often all five of them.

They were currently all sitting on a plane back to Hawaii.

Steve hadn't had much chance to talk to Kono since, really, their dinner the night before they had met up with the Yakuza. After all they had been through, it was strange to not be with her every second of the day anymore.

On the plane, she was seated between Chin and Adam, who, Steve had noticed, now seemed to be getting along like best friends. They joked about things and talked about Kono when they weren't around her. It was clear their ordeal had brought them together and made them realize they really were allies after all.

They arrived at Honolulu International Airport at sundown. Danny practically ran off the plane, saying he had to go see Grace and, though they could have been mistaken, they could have sworn he had added, "And take her to the beach."

"Do you need anything?" Adam asked Kono as they stood in the terminal.

"A little water," she answered, still not looking like herself but much better than she had been.

"Okay!" he said quickly, and they laughed a little at how enthusiastically he jogged off in search of some.

"I'm going to call the governor," said Chin. "Let him know we made it back okay."

"And I'll get us some rides set up," said Doris. They walked off to stand near the windows where they both pulled out their phones.

"Do you want to sit down?" Steve asked Kono.

"Yeah," she answered, sounding grateful he had offered and she didn't have to admit how tired she was. They sat in a row of seats near a gate, waiting for the rest of their group to return.

"Hey," she said quietly.

He looked at her. "Hey."

She just watched him for a moment. Then she said, in a quiet voice that still had to speak through pain, "How many times is that?"

He gave her a confused look. "What?"

"That you've saved me."

He sighed. "I don't know. I just care that you're okay. I'm sorry all this happened," he said.

She narrowed her already swollen eyes at him. "Steve McGarrett," she said, with more authority than he would have thought possible, given her condition "Don't you, for even a minute, think that what happened to me is your fault."

"I'd trade with you if I could."

"Don't be ridiculous. This hurts like hell."

"That's why I would do it. And I don't care what you say: I'm still sorry."

She leaned closer to him then, lowered her voice, and smiled. "Just for the record, we could have to do that all over again and you still wouldn't need to apologize to me."

~fin

**Thanks so much for reading! I had so much fun writing this, and when I get more time, I'd love to write other stories. Until then, please leave a review to tell me what you thought about this one!**


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